Susceptibility Characterization of a Cavity with an Aperture by using Slowly Rotating EM Fields: FDTD Analysis and Measurements

This paper describes the evaluation of the susceptibility of a cavity with an aperture using the finite-difference time-domain (FDTD) method and experimentally. To reduce the computing time, the FDTD method is used for the radiation from the cavity and the susceptibility is obtained by using the reciprocity theorem. The cavity used here is modeled after a full-tower desktop enclosure with a 3.5-in bay. The susceptibility characteristics are evaluated by measuring outputs of a monopole antenna and transmission lines installed in the cavity. The susceptibility characteristics, using a three-dimensional (3-D) map, are studied from the computed and the measured results by applying slowly rotating electromagnetic fields to the cavity on a turntable. Measured and modeled results are in good agreement, indicating the merits of the proposed approach for susceptibility/immunity evaluation. Moreover, some discussions are made to check the susceptibility mechanism

Estimation of radioactivity in single photon emission computed tomography for sentinel lymph node biopsy in a torso phantom study

Objectives: Number of lymph nodes to be removed are determined from residual counts. Estimating residual radioactivity in lymphatic nodes before a biopsy in advance is useful for reducing surgical operation time. The purpose of this study was to estimate total radioactivity of a small hot spot in single-photon emission computed tomography (SPECT) of a torso phantom. Methods: Cross-calibration study was performed to convert counts in SPECT images to radioactivity. A simulation study was performed to estimate the size of volume of interest (VOI) covering a hot spot corrupted with full width at half maximum (FWHM) between 8 and 16 mm. The estimation of total radioactivity was validated in a torso phantom study using small sources. Results: True radioactivity was approximately equal to integrated values of hot spots using the VOI with a diameter of 40 mm in our simulation study. The difference was less than18% in cases of more than 9.4 kBq. Conclusions: The total radioactivity in small sources simulating a typical sentinel node was estimated from SPECT images using a VOI of 40 mm in a torso phantom study. Because the difference from actual values were less than 10% on average when radioactivities were more than 9.4 kBq, the total radioactivity of a lymph node can be estimated in a clinical examination

Mitotic phosphorylation of CCCTC-binding factor (CTCF) reduces its DNA binding activity

During mitosis, higher order chromatin structures are disrupted and chromosomes are condensed to achieve accurate chromosome segregation. CCCTC-binding factor (CTCF) is a highly conserved and ubiquitously expressed C2H2-type zinc finger protein which is considered to be involved in epigenetic memory through regulation of higher order chromatin architecture. However, the regulatory mechanism of CTCF in mitosis is still unclear. Here we found that the DNA-binding activity of CTCF is regulated in a phosphorylation-dependent manner during mitosis. The linker domains of the CTCF zinc finger domain were found to be phosphorylated during mitosis. The phosphorylation of linker domains impaired the DNA-binding activity in vitro. Mutation analyses showed that amino acid residues (Thr289, Thr317, Thr346, Thr374, Ser402, Ser461, and Thr518) located in the linker domains were phosphorylated during mitosis. Based on these results, we propose that the mitotic phosphorylation of the linker domains of CTCF is important for the dissociation of CTCF from mitotic chromatin

閉じこもり傾向の高齢者の社会参加促進 : 「Café ゆっくり生きる。」の試みから考える

鹿児島県大隅地方鹿屋地区で閉じこもり傾向の高齢者の社会参加促進の場を設けて行ってきた試みについてシンポジウムを行った。企画者は、話題提供者らと共に「Caféゆっくり生きる｡」というたまり場を作り、１２の体験型講座（月２回）の運営にかかわってきた。人口減少が進み、公共交通網も少なく、社会資源が少ない地域の高齢者と何ができるか、「生きにくさ」のなかでの乗り合いバス、相手を認めるとは何か、今後はどのように進めていくかについて討論した。We held symposiums on our experiment of creating a place that promotes social participations of elders, who tend to shut themselves out, in Kanoya-jiaku of Osumi area in Kagoshima prefecture. The planner has created a hangout, Café Living Slow, together with the topic providers, and has been engaged in managing 12 hands-on workshops. We discussed what we can do with the elders in a communities with the population erosion, little public transportation available, scarce social resources, a community bus system in difficulty of living, what is to accept others, and how we go from here