Childhood adversity and adulthood happiness: Evidence from Japan

In this study, we examined the impact of childhood interpersonal adversity on adulthood subjective well-being, with a focus on the mediating and moderating effects of social support and socioeconomic status (SES). We concentrated on parental maltreatment (abuse and neglect) and bullying in school as childhood adversity variables and on perceived happiness, life satisfaction, and self-rated health as adulthood subjective well-being measures. Our empirical analysis was based on micro data from a survey in municipalities in and around the Tokyo metropolitan area (N = 3,292). We obtained four key findings. First, the experience of childhood adversity had a substantial negative impact on adulthood subjective well-being. Second, social support and SES significantly mediated the impact of childhood adversity. Third, a large proportion of the impact of childhood interpersonal adversity was unexplained by social support and SES mediation effects. Fourth, no social support or SES variable moderated the impact of childhood interpersonal adversity. Hence, we can conclude that childhood interpersonal adversity affects adulthood subjective well-being in a relatively independent manner rather than being substantially mediated or moderated by social support or SES. Accordingly, social policies should aim at reducing incidents of childhood maltreatment and bullying in addition to helping people enhance levels of social support and SES in later life.Childhood adversity, adulthood subjective well-being, mediation analysis, Japan

Mediating effects of social support and socioeconomic status on the association between childhood interpersonal adversity and adulthood mental health in Japan

In this study, we examined how the impact of child adversity on adulthood mental health is mediated by perceived social support and socioeconomic status (SES) in Japan, using micro data collected from surveys conducted in four municipalities in the Tokyo metropolitan area (N = 3,305). We focused on the self-reported experience of parental maltreatment and bullying in school. Our moderation analysis revealed that perceived social support and SES mediated 9-21% and 6-13%, respectively, of the impact of child adversity on selected mental health variables. The results highlight the mediating roles of social support and SES on the impact of adverse events in childhood on adulthood mental health. However, a large proportion of the impact is unexplained by either social support or SES, underscoring the need for reducing risks of parental maltreatment and bullying in school.Child adversity, Social support, Socioeconomic status, Adulthood mental health, Mediation analysis, Japan

Disease Severity Indexes and Treatment Evaluation Criteria in Vitiligo

There is a current lack of consensus regarding methods of assessment of vitiligo. Recently, the Vitiligo Area Scoring Index (VASI) and the Vitiligo European Task Force (VETF) were proposed to offer more accurate measures of disease severity indexes and treatment evaluation criteria. It would make sense to combine the VASI with the VETF system. We proposed an original scale for treatment evaluation criteria in vitiligo based on VASI. We plan to add the digital image analysis system, health-related quality of life questionnaire, affected skin location, and skin color in the original scale

Surface plasmon enhanced spontaneous emission rate of InGaN/GaN quantum wells probed by time-resolved photoluminescence spectroscopy

We observed a 32-fold increase in the spontaneous emission rate of InGaN/GaN quantum well (QW) at 440 nm by employing surface plasmons (SPs) probed by time-resolved photoluminescence spectroscopy. We explore this remarkable enhancement of the emission rates and intensities resulting from the efficient energy transfer from electron-hole pair recombination in the QW to electron vibrations of SPs at the metal-coated surface of the semiconductor heterostructure. This QW-SP coupling is expected to lead to a new class of super bright and high-speed light-emitting diodes (LEDs) that offer realistic alternatives to conventional fluorescent tubes

Upper Bound Theory for Deformation of Porous Materials

A porous material is idealized in such a way that it possesses an identical yield surface for any volume element throughout the material during a deformation processing. This makes it possible to derive an upper bound theorem on the basis of the plasticity theory for porous metals already proposed by the authors. The theorem is utilized to estimate extrusion pressures and the final density ratios for given initial densities. The estimated values agree well with experimental data. An alternative way of deriving an upper bound to the load is also presented on a modified yield criterion for porous metals

Two XMAP215/TOG Microtubule Polymerases, Alp14 and Dis1, Play Non-Exchangeable, Distinct Roles in Microtubule Organisation in Fission Yeast

Proper bipolar spindle assembly underlies accurate chromosome segregation. A cohort of microtubule-associated proteins orchestrates spindle microtubule formation in a spatiotemporally coordinated manner. Among them, the conserved XMAP215/TOG family of microtubule polymerase plays a central role in spindle assembly. In fission yeast, two XMAP215/TOGmembers, Alp14 and Dis1, share essential roles in cell viability; however how these two proteins functionally collaborate remains undetermined. Here we show the functional interplay and specification of Alp14 and Dis1. Creation of new mutant alleles of alp14, which display temperature sensitivity in the absence of Dis1, enabled us to conduct detailed analyses of a double mutant. We have found that simultaneous inactivation of Alp14 and Dis1 results in early mitotic arrest with very short, fragile spindles. Intriguingly, these cells often undergo spindle collapse, leading to a lethal “cut” phenotype. By implementing an artificial targeting system, we have shown that Alp14 and Dis1 are not functionally exchangeable and as such are not merely redundant paralogues. Interestingly, while Alp14 promotes microtubule nucleation, Dis1 does not. Our results uncover that the intrinsic specification, not the spatial regulation, between Alp14 and Dis1 underlies the collaborative actions of these two XMAP215/TOG members in mitotic progression, spindle integrity and genome stability.This work was supported by the Japan Society for the Promotion of Science (JSPS) (KAKENHI Scientific Research (A) 16H02503 and the Program for Advancing Strategic International Networks to Accelerate the Circulation of Talented Researchers (S2902) to T.T. and Scientific Research (C) 19K05813 to M.Y.)

REMOTE BACTERICIDAL ACTIVITY OF TIO2 NANOPARTICLES

The remote bactericidal effect of TiO2 photocatalyst, i.e., the bactericidal effect away from the photocatalyst, was successfully achieved using a humidified airflow. The TiO2 photocatalyst used was anatase-type TiO2 nanoparticles (NPs) annealed with a low-temperature O2 plasma. For comparison, anatase-type TiO2 NPs annealed in the air were used. The bacteria, Bacillus subtilis, were placed away from the TiO2 NPs. The plasma-assisted-annealed TiO2 NPs significantly inactivated 99% of the bacterial cells in 5 h, whereas the pristine and air-annealed TiO2 NPs inactivated 88-90% of the bacterial cells. The remote bactericidal effect of plasma-assisted-annealed TiO2 NPs would be attributed to a larger amount of H2O2 molecules traveled by the airflow from the TiO2 NPs. The molecules were generated by chemically reacting more photoexcited carriers on the TiO2 surface with H2O and O2 in the airflow. These photoexcited carriers originated from more oxygen-based species adsorbed and more oxygen vacancies introduced on the TiO2 surface by the plasma-assisted-annealing