A modified porous titanium sheet prepared by plasma activated sintering for biomedical applications

This study aimed to develop a contamination free porous titanium scaffold by a plasma activated sintering within an originally developed TiN coated graphite mold. The surface of porous titanium sheet with or without a coated graphite mold was characterized. The cell adhesion property of porous titanium sheet was also evaluated in this study. The peak of TiC was detected on the titanium sheet processed with the graphite mold without a TiN coating. Since the titanium fiber elements were directly in contact with the carbon graphite mold during processing, surface contamination was unavoidable event in this condition. The TiC peak was not detectable on the titanium sheet processed within the TiN coated carbon graphite mold. This modified plasma activated sintering with the TiN coated graphite mold would be useful to fabricate a contamination free titanium sheet. The number of adherent cells on the modified titanium sheet was greater than that of the bare titanium plate. Stress fiber formation and the extension of the cells were observed on the titanium sheets. This modified titanium sheet is expected to be a new tissue engineering material in orthopedic bone repair.Comment: 5 pages, 4 figure

Enhancement of average thermoelectric figure of merit by increasing the grain-size of Mg_(3.2)Sb_(1.5)Bi_(0.49)Te_(0.01)

Zintl compound n-type Mg_3(Sb,Bi)_2 was recently found to exhibit excellent thermoelectric figure of merit zT (∼1.5 at around 700 K). To improve the thermoelectric performance in the whole temperature range of operation from room temperature to 720 K, we investigated how the grain size of sintered samples influences electronic and thermal transport. By increasing the average grain size from 1.0 μm to 7.8 μm, the Hall mobility below 500 K was significantly improved, possibly due to suppression of grain boundary scattering. We also confirmed that the thermal conductivity did not change by increasing the grain size. Consequently, the sample with larger grains exhibited enhanced average zT. The calculated efficiency of thermoelectric power generation reaches 14.5% (ΔT = 420 K), which is quite high for a polycrystalline pristine material

Prognostic factors influencing clinical outcome of allogeneic hematopoietic stem cell transplantation following imatinib-based therapy in BCR–ABL-positive ALL

We investigated prognostic factors for the clinical outcome of allogeneic hematopoietic stem cell transplantation (allo-HSCT) in patients with Philadelphia chromosome-positive acute lymphoblastic leukemia (Ph+ALL) following imatinib-based therapy. Among 100 adult patients who were prospectively enrolled in the JALSG Ph+ALL202 study, 97 patients obtained complete remission (CR) by imatinib-combined chemotherapy, among whom 60 underwent allo-HSCT in their first CR. The probabilities of overall survival (OS) and disease-free survival (DFS) at 3 years after HSCT were 64% (95% CI, 49–76) and 58% (95% CI, 43–70), respectively. Prognostic factor analysis revealed that the major BCR–ABL transcript was the only unfavorable predictor for OS and DFS after HSCT by both univariate (HR, 3.67 (95% CI 1.49–9.08); P=0.005 and HR, 6.25 (95% CI, 1.88–20.8); P=0.003, respectively) and multivariate analyses (HR, 3.20 (95% CI, 1.21–8.50); P=0.019 and HR, 6.92 (95% CI, 2.09–22.9); P=0.002, respectively). Minimal residual disease status at the time of HSCT had a significant influence on relapse rate (P=0.015). Further study of the BCR–ABL subtype for the clinical impact on outcome of allo-HSCT in Ph+ALL is warranted

『宣教卿記』天正三年六月〜一二月記

departmental bulletin pape

コウトウ キョウイク カイカク ノ ソウゴ コウイ ブンセキ : ビデオ エスノグラフィー ケンキュウ ノ ネライ ト コウガクブ トシ コウガク エンシュウ ノ ジッサイ

ビデオエスノグラフィーは、当事者的知識を十分に摂取しながら行うビデオ分析であり、我々は この方法で、高等教育改革の現場を研究した。生涯学習社会の到来を受けて、日本の高等教育は現在第 2 次世界大戦直後以来の改革期にある。すなわち、「知識」より「生涯学習能力」の獲得を志向した、 自発性を尊重するような様々な取り組みがなされ始めている。この高等教育の現場に対し、ワークプレ ース研究を行った。Ｂ大学工学部都市工学演習α班を分析対象とした調査の結果、①演習の課題解釈に は「従来の指標の相対化の要求の程度」を巡って２つの解釈があり得たこと、②班内にはその２種類の 解釈に対応した葛藤・対立的相互行為が存在したこと、③にもかかわらず、班内葛藤を生きる当事者が ともに専門性（「都市工学」）を志向していたこと、④したがって、課題理解のいかんにかかわらず、 班活動の全体が「都市工学演習」と呼び得るものになっていたこと、⑤その一方で、最終審査会場（ジ ュリー）ではこの２重性が十分レリバントなものとして浮かび上がって来ていなかったこと、これらの ことがわかった。諸結果を総合すると、学生の自主的活動を尊重するタイプの、新しい学習方法の吟味・ 評価のためには、学生によるその方法の実践状況の分析が有意義であるだろうこと、また、それは、場 合によっては教員の評価のパラダイムを変える力を持つだろうことなどが予測された。なお、本報告は、 文科省科学研究費補助金「高等教育改革のコミュニケーション分析－現場における文化変容の質的検討 －」（基盤研究（Ｂ）、 課題番号 １８３３０１０５、研究代表者：樫田美雄）ほかによる研究成果 の一部である

Discovery of New Hydrothermal Activity and Chemosynthetic Fauna on the Central Indian Ridge at 18°–20°S

Indian Ocean hydrothermal vents are believed to represent a novel biogeographic province, and are host to many novel genera and families of animals, potentially indigenous to Indian Ocean hydrothermal systems. In particular, since its discovery in 2001, much attention has been paid to a so-called ‘scaly-foot’ gastropod because of its unique iron-sulfide-coated dermal sclerites and the chemosynthetic symbioses in its various tissues. Despite increasing interest in the faunal assemblages at Indian Ocean hydrothermal vents, only two hydrothermal vent fields have been investigated in the Indian Ocean. Here we report two newly discovered hydrothermal vent fields, the Dodo and Solitaire fields, which are located in the Central Indian Ridge (CIR) segments 16 and 15, respectively. Chemosynthetic faunal communities at the Dodo field are emaciated in size and composition. In contrast, at the Solitaire field, we observed faunal communities that potentially contained almost all genera found at CIR hydrothermal environments to date, and even identified previously unreported taxa. Moreover, a new morphotype of ‘scaly-foot’ gastropod has been found at the Solitaire field. The newly discovered ‘scaly-foot’ gastropod has similar morphological and anatomical features to the previously reported type that inhabits the Kairei field, and both types of ‘scaly-foot’ gastropods genetically belong to the same species according to analyses of their COI gene and nuclear SSU rRNA gene sequences. However, the new morphotype completely lacks an iron-sulfide coating on the sclerites, which had been believed to be a novel feature restricted to ‘scaly-foot’ gastropods. Our new findings at the two newly discovered hydrothermal vent sites provide important insights into the biodiversity and biogeography of vent-endemic ecosystems in the Indian Ocean