Decaying Hidden Gauge Boson and the PAMELA and ATIC/PPB-BETS Anomalies

We show that the PAMELA anomaly in the positron fraction as well as the ATIC/PPB-BETS excesses in the e^- + e^+ flux are simultaneously explained in our scenario that a hidden U(1)H gauge boson constitutes dark matter of the Universe and decays into the standard-model particles through a kinetic mixing with an U(1)B-L gauge boson. Interestingly, the B-L charge assignment suppresses an antiproton flux in consistent with the PAMELA and BESS experiments, while the hierarchy between the B-L symmetry breaking scale and the weak scale naturally leads to the right lifetime of O(10^26) seconds.Comment: the version accepted by Progress of Theoretical Physics (PTP

Centrin controls the activity of the ciliary reversal-coupled voltage-gated Ca2+ channels Ca2+-dependently

In Paramecium, ciliary reversal is coupled with voltage-gated Ca2+ channels on the ciliary membrane. Wepreviously isolated a P. caudatum mutant, cnrC, with a malfunction of the Ca2+ channels and discovered thatthe channel activity of cnrC was restored by transfection of the P. caudatum centrin (Pccentrin1p) gene, whichencodes a member of the Ca2+-binding EF-hand protein family. In this study, we injected various mutatedPccentrin1p genes into cnrC and investigated whether these genes restore the Ca2+ channel activity of cnrC. APccentrin1p mutant gene lacking Ca2+ sensitivity of the third and fourth EF-hands lost the ability to restore thechannel function of cnrC, and mutation of the fourth EF-hand caused more serious impairment than mutation ofthe third EF-hand. Moreover, a Pccentrin1p gene lacking the N-terminal 34-amino acid sequence also lost theability to restore the channel activity. Native-PAGE analysis demonstrated that the N-terminal sequence isimportant for the Ca2+-dependent structural change of Pccentrin1p. These results demonstrate that Pccentrin1pCa2+-dependently regulates the Ca2+ channel activity in vivo

The Development and Assessment on the Qualities and Abilities Questionnaire in Elementary and Junior High School <Research Article>

本研究では，次期学習指導要領改訂の重要な観点である，主体性・多様性・協働性・学びに向かう力等の「育成すべき資質・能力」に着目して，小中学校の児童生徒を対象とした質問紙を開発し，教育現場での有効性を検討することを目的とした。質問紙開発に当たっては小学校校長や教諭等と協議を重ね，先行研究などから収集した項目を精選した。そして，資質・能力を多角的に見取るために，「社会性と情動」アンケート（田中・真井・津田・田中，2011）と共に，児童生徒約1600名に質問紙開発のための調査を実施した。その結果，育成すべき資質・能力に関して，「主体性・積極性」，「自尊心」，「協働する力」などの因子が得られた。続いて，各学校のニーズに応じて，児童一人一人の多様性の把握，学校全体，中学校区での分析を行ったところ，児童生徒の的確な見取りや，各校での取組の成果や課題の明確化につながった。以上の結果より，本資質・能力質問紙の有用性が示唆された。The present study aimed to develop a questionnaire concerning the "qualities and abilities that should be promoted," in terms of subjectivity, diversity, cooperation of labor, willingness to learn, and human nature, which will be important aspects of the next revision of the course of study; to conduct the questionnaire among children in elementary and junior high schools; and to examine its utility at these schools. When the questionnaire was developed, the author conferred repeatedly with the principal of the elementary school and with teachers, and the question items collected from previous works, etc., were selected. To identify the "qualities and abilities" multilaterally, the questionnaire was conducted with approximately 1600 children alongside a "sociality and affect" questionnaire (Tanaka, Sanai, Tsuda, and Tanaka, 2011 ). As a result, factors such as "subjectivity and activeness," "pride," and "cooperation of labor" could be related to "qualities and abilities that should be promoted." An analysis of findings in terms of the diversity of the children, the school as a whole, and the junior high school district was conducted by using the results in relation to the demands of each school, leading to an appropriate understanding of the children, clarification of the results of the teachers' approach, and the problems in each school. These findings suggest that this "qualities and abilities" questionnaire is useful

Effectiveness of Dance/Movement Therapy Intervention for Children with Intellectual Disability at an Early Childhood Special Education Preschool

Children with intellectual disability (ID) often have deficits in gross motor skills and static and dynamic balance abilities, poor lower muscle strength, and an increased risk of serious falls. They also face difficulty in continuing physical activity programs due to cognitive impairment and easy loss of motivation. However, dance/movement therapy (DMT) has been found to help children with ID perform static and dynamic movements. This study aimed to assess the effectiveness of DMT group sessions for children with ID as part of an early childhood special education preschool program. The outcome measures involved employing a hand-held dynamometer to assess knee extensor muscles, the one-leg stand test for static balance, and the timed “up and go” test for dynamic balance, and administering the Child Behavior Checklist and Caregiver-Teacher Report Form for children’s adaptive functions and behavioral problems, as reported by parents or relatives and teachers respectively. Twenty-one children with ID aged 36 to 72 months participated in the study. Ten 60-min DMT group sessions were conducted as manualized intervention, once a week. The measurements were done before and after the 10 DMT group session, and then compared. The results showed statistically significant changes in both knee extensor muscles, the standing time for both legs in the one-leg stand test, attention problems and affective problems in the Checklist, and total score, internalizing problems (including emotionally reactive and somatic complaints), externalizing problems (including attention problems and aggressive behavior), affective problems, anxiety problems, and attention deficit/hyperactivity problems in the Report Form. This study found that the DMT group sessions as part of an early childhood special education preschool program for children with ID aged 36 to 72 months helped improve their knee extensor muscles and static balance while reducing maladaptive behaviors, enabling them to enjoy the sessions for the full study period

Decaying Hidden Gauge Boson and the PAMELA and ATIC/PPB-BETS Anomalies

Abstract We show that the PAMELA anomaly in the positron fraction as well as the ATIC/PPB-BETS excesses in the e − + e + flux are simultaneously explained in our scenario that a hidden U (1) H gauge boson constitutes dark matter of the Universe and decays into the standard-model particles 1 The nature of dark matter has been a big mystery in modern cosmology. Recently, there appeared several exciting observational data on high-energy cosmic-ray particles, which may be shedding light on this issue. The PAMELA data We have recently proposed a scenario that a hidden U(1) H gauge boson constitutes dark matter of the Universe and decays into the standard-model (SM) particles through a kinetic mixing with a U(1) B−L gauge boson #1 In this letter we show that our model can naturally explain both the PAMELA and ATIC/PPB-BETS anomalies, for the hidden gauge boson of a mass about 1.2 TeV, while the antiproton flux is still suppressed enough due to the B − L charge assignment. Interestingly, our scenario predicts an excess in the diffuse gamma-ray background peaked around 100 GeV, which will be tested soon by the Fermi (formerly GLAST) [9] satellite in operation. Let us here briefly review our set-up (see Ref. [5] for more details). We introduce an extra dimension with two branes at the boundaries. Suppose that the hidden gauge sector is on one brane and the SM particles are on the other brane, which are well separated from each other so that direct interactions between the two sectors are exponentially suppressed. where λ is a coefficient of the kinetic mixing, q i denotes the B − L charge of the fermion ψ i , and m and M are the masses of the hidden gauge boson A H and the U(1) B−L gauge boson, respectively. The partial decay width for the SM fermion pair is where we have neglected the fermion mass, and N i is the color factor (3 for quarks and 1 for leptons). Note that the coefficient N i q 2 i is 1/3 and 1 for quarks and leptons, respectively, which results in the suppression of the antiproton flux. The lifetime τ is therefore given by where the sum is taken over the SM fermions. It should be noted that the branching ratios are not sensitive to the mass of A H and they simply reflect the B − L charge assignment, which makes our analysis very predictive. Let us now estimate the spectra for the positron fraction, (e − + e + ), gamma-ray and antiproton fluxes based on the decay modes discussed above. The branching ratios are 2/39 and 2/13 for a quark pair and a charged lepton pair, respectively. To estimate the spectra of the gamma, positrons and antiprotons, we use the PYTHIA [11] Monte Carlo program

Spatiotemporal Control of Ice Crystallization in Supercooled Water via an Ultrashort Laser Impulse

Takahashi H., Kono T., Sawada K., et al. Spatiotemporal Control of Ice Crystallization in Supercooled Water via an Ultrashort Laser Impulse. Journal of Physical Chemistry Letters, 14(19), 4394-4402, 18 May 2023: © 2023 American Chemical Society. DOI: 10.1021/acs.jpclett.3c00414.Focused irradiation with ultrashort laser pulses realized the fine spatiotemporal control of ice crystallization in supercooled water. An effective multiphoton excitation at the laser focus generated shockwaves and bubbles, which acted as an impulse for inducing ice crystal nucleation. The impulse that was localized close to the laser focus and accompanied by a small temperature elevation allowed the precise position control of ice crystallization and its observation with spatiotemporal resolution of micrometers and microseconds using a microscope. To verify the versatility of this laser method, we also applied it using various aqueous systems (e.g., plant extracts). The systematic study of crystallization probability revealed that laser-induced cavitation bubbles play a crucial role in inducing ice crystal nucleation. This method can be used as a tool for studying ice crystallization dynamics in various natural and biological phenomena

Growth Enhancement of Organic Nonlinear Optical Crystals by Femtosecond Laser Ablation

Takahashi H., Yamaji M., Ikeyama J., et al. Growth Enhancement of Organic Nonlinear Optical Crystals by Femtosecond Laser Ablation. Journal of Physical Chemistry C, 125(15), 8391-8397, 22 April 2021: © 2021 American Chemical Society. DOI: 10.1021/acs.jpcc.0c10636.The impact of femtosecond (fs) laser ablation on the shape and nonlinear optical (NLO) properties of organic crystals was investigated. fs laser ablation of a local region of a NLO crystal can selectively enhance the growth of targeted faces. Reflection imaging of crystal surfaces revealed that a number of new crystal steps are generated from ablated area, which induces the crystal growth enhancement. In addition, the evaluation of terahertz wave emission from ablated crystals shows that NLO properties are not deteriorated after fs laser ablation. We foresee that crystal shape control by such a damage-less ablation process will potentially improve the NLO properties of organic crystals