Differential Scanning Calorimetric Studies on the Melting Behavior of Water in Stratum Corneum

The melting behavior of water in human stratum corneum (s. corneum) has been studied by sing differential scanning calorimetry (DSC) in the temperature range from -40° to 20°C. The DSC thermogram was analyzed in terms of the amount of about water and the melting temperature of water in s. corneum. Extraction of the s. corneum with the mixed solvent of chloroform: methanol (2:1, v/v) or 0.5% sodium dodecyl sulfate aqueous solution decreased the bound water content, whereas extraction with water did not change the bound water content. The melting temperature of water in the s. corneum was lowered as the water contents decreased. Extraction of the water-soluble components from the s. corneum increased the melting temperature of water when the water contents were constant. The results suggest that 20–30% of water in the s. corneum is bound water interacting strongly with the protein or lipids in the s. corneum, and the excess of water over the bound water content is unbound water solubilizing the water-soluble components such as amino acids and urea in the s. corneum. The thermodynamic theory for freezing-point depression is favourably applied to the melting temperature change of the unbound water, which implies that the water-soluble components are present as an aqueous solution in the s. corneum. Measurements of the melting-point depression of water in s. corneum provides us the quantitative information on the amount of water-soluble components in the s. corneum. This technique is a sensitive and useful tool to evaluate the hydration behavior of s. corneum

Minimally Invasive Surgery for Unstable Pelvic Ring Fractures: Transiliac Rod and Screw Fixation

Pelvic fractures occur with high-energy trauma, and the patient’s clinical status is unstable. Although a number of surgical methods for unstable pelvic fractures are available, none can achieve strong fixation with minimal invasiveness. We describe a surgical transiliac rod and screw fixation (TIF) procedure that provides minimally invasive fixation using a spinal implant for unstable pelvic ring fractures, and we retrospectively analyzed the procedure’s outcomes in 27 patients with type B or C1 fractures (based on the AO/ATO classification system). Small skin incisions are made above the posterior superior iliac spines on both sides. The ilium is partially resected, and two iliac screws are inserted on each side. The spinous process of the sacral spine is then shaved, and the iliac screws are connected to 2 rods, one placed caudal to the other. Corrective manipulation is performed at the fracture site, and the rods are connected with connectors. Favorable fracture reduction, defined as a rating of ‘excellent’ or ‘good,’ was achieved in 77.8% of the patients. Transiliac rod and screw fixation (TIF) will be a useful therapeutic option for unstable pelvic ring fractures

Suppressive Effect of Wild Saccharomyces cerevisiae and Saccharomyces paradoxus Strains on Ige Production by Mouse Spleen Cells

The genus Saccharomyces includes industrial yeasts that are used for bread and alcoholic beverage production. Saccharomyces strains isolated from natural resources, referred to as “wild” yeasts, are used for making products with strain-specific flavors that are different from those of the “domesticated” industrial yeasts. The physiological effects of wild yeast are poorly understood. In this study, we isolated 2 Saccharomyces cerevisiae strains (S02 − 03) and 5 Saccharomyces paradoxus strains (P01 − 02, S01, S04 − 05) from natural resources in the Kiso area and investigated the effect of these fungal strains on IgE production by mouse spleen cells. Culturing spleen cells with heat-killed yeasts resulted in elevated IFN-γ and IL-12 levels followed by significant reduction in IgE levels. The S03 and P01 strains induced IL-12 p40 and IL-10 expression in RAW264 cells. Thus, wild strains of S. cerevisiae and S. paradoxus regulate macrophage cytokine production to improve the Th1/Th2 immune balance and suppress IgE production.ArticleFOOD SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY RESEARCH. 19(6):1019-1027 (2013)journal articl

Time-delayed collective flow diffusion models for inferring latent people flow from aggregated data at limited locations

The rapid adoption of wireless sensor devices has made it easier to record location information of people in a variety of spaces (e.g., exhibition halls). Location information is often aggregated due to privacy and/or cost concerns. The aggregated data we use as input consist of the numbers of incoming and outgoing people at each location and at each time step. Since the aggregated data lack tracking information of individuals, determining the flow of people between locations is not straightforward. In this article, we address the problem of inferring latent people flows, that is, transition populations between locations, from just aggregated population data gathered from observed locations. Existing models assume that everyone is always in one of the observed locations at every time step; this, however, is an unrealistic assumption, because we do not always have a large enough number of sensor devices to cover the large-scale spaces targeted. To overcome this drawback, we propose a probabilistic model with flow conservation constraints that incorporate travel duration distributions between observed locations. To handle noisy settings, we adopt noisy observation models for the numbers of incoming and outgoing people, where the noise is regarded as a factor that may disturb flow conservation, e.g., people may appear in or disappear from the predefined space of interest. We develop an approximate expectation-maximization (EM) algorithm that simultaneously estimates transition populations and model parameters. Our experiments demonstrate the effectiveness of the proposed model on real-world datasets of pedestrian data in exhibition halls, bike trip data and taxi trip data in New York City

MeV protons in the inner belt and slot region observed by HEP onboard the Arase satellite

The Tenth Symposium on Polar Science/Ordinary sessions: [OS] Space and upper atmospheric sciences, Wed. 4 Dec. /Entrance Hall (1st floor) at National Institute of Polar Research (NIPR