A molecular thermometer based on luminescence of copper(II) tetraphenylporphyrin

The photoluminescence (PL) spectra from solid samples consisting of polystyrene and 5,10,15,20-tetraphenyl-21H,23H-porphine copper(II) (CuTPP) revealed two sharp peaks at 653 and 720 nm, and indicated another broad peak at around 780 nm, which could not be observed in CuTPP solutions. The intensity ratio of the two peaks appearing at 653 nm and at around 780 nm demonstrated clear dependence on temperature. This dependence of the PL intensity ratio was observed under the atmosphere and even in water. The findings mean that we were able to utilize PL from CuTPP as a thermometer under various conditions. We measured the temperatures of an organic light-emitting diode (OLED) during operation based on its electroluminescence, where the OLED contained CuTPP as a light-emitting dopant, to demonstrate the CuTPP thermometer.ArticleThin Solid Films. 518(2):563-566 (2009)journal articl

Characterization of sensitivity and responses of a 2-element prototype wavefront sensor for millimeter-wave adaptive optics attached to the Nobeyama 45 m telescope

We report the results of the performance characterization of a prototype wavefront sensor for millimetric adaptive optics (MAO) installed on the Nobeyama 45 m radio telescope. MAO is a key component to realize a future large-aperture submillimeter telescope, such as Large Submillimeter Telescope (LST) or Atacama Large Aperture Submillimeter Telescope (AtLAST). The difficulty of MAO is, however, real-time sensing of wavefront deformation with ~10 um accuracy across the aperture. Our wavefront sensor operating at 20 GHz measures the radio path length between a certain position of the primary mirror surface to the focal point where a 20 GHz coherent receiver is placed. With the 2-element prototype, we sampled two positions on the primary mirror surface (at radii of 5 m and 16 m) at a sampling rate of 10 Hz. Then an excess path length (EPL) between the two positions was obtained by differentiating the two optical paths. A power spectral density of the EPL shows three components: a low-frequency drift (1/f^n), oscillations, and a white noise. A comparison of EPL measurements under a variety of wind conditions suggests that the former two are likely induced by the wind load on the telescope structure. The power of the white noise corresponds to a 1sigma statistical error of 8 um in EPL measurements. The 8 um r.m.s. is significant with respect to the mirror surface accuracy required by the LST and AtLAST (~20-40 um r.m.s.), which demonstrates that our technique is also useful for the future large-aperture submillimeter telescopes.Comment: 10 pages, 9 figures. Published in SPIE Pro

A Coupled Spintronics Neuromorphic Approach for High-Performance Reservoir Computing

The rapid development in the field of artificial intelligence has increased the demand for neuromorphic computing hardware and its information-processing capability. A spintronics device is a promising candidate for neuromorphic computing hardware and can be used in extreme environments due to its high resistance to radiation. Improving the information-processing capability of neuromorphic computing is an important challenge for implementation. Herein, a novel neuromorphic computing framework using spintronics devices is proposed. This framework is called coupled spintronics reservoir (CSR) computing and exploits the high-dimensional dynamics of coupled spin-torque oscillators as a computational resource. The relationships among various bifurcations of the CSR and its information-processing capabilities through numerical experiments are analyzed and it is found that certain configurations of the CSR boost the information-processing capability of the spintronics reservoir toward or even beyond the standard level of machine learning networks. The effectiveness of our approach is demonstrated through conventional machine learning benchmarks and edge computing in real physical experiments using pneumatic artificial muscle-based wearables, which assist human operations in various environments. This study significantly advances the availability of neuromorphic computing for practical uses

Flavobacterium okayamense sp. nov. isolated from surface seawater

Strain KK2020170T, a Gram-stain negative, yellow colony-forming bacterium, was isolated from surface seawater sampled in Kojima Bay, Okayama, Japan. Phylogenetic analysis based on the 16S rRNA gene revealed that strain KK2020170T belongs to the genus Flavobacterium, with Flavobacterium haoranii LQY-7T (98.1% similarity) being its closest relative, followed by Flavobacterium sediminis MEBiC07310T (96.9%) and Flavobacterium urocaniciphilum YIT 12746T (96.0%). Whole-genome shotgun sequencing showed that strain KK2020170T, when paralleled with F. haoranii LQY-7 T, had 81.3% average nucleotide identity, and 24.6% in silico DNA–DNA hybridization values, respectively. The DNA G + C content of strain KK2020170T was 31.1 mol%. The most abundant fatty acids (> 10%) of strain KK2020170T were iso-C15: 0, iso-C17: 0 3-OH and iso-C15: 1 G. The dominant respiratory quinone of the strain was menaquinone MK-6. Based on the phylogenetic and phenotypic analysis results, we propose that strain KK2020170T represents a novel species, for which the name Flavobacterium okayamense sp. nov. has been proposed. The type strain is KK2020170T (= ATCC TSD-280 T = NBRC 115344 T)

Comprehensive immune complexome analysis detects disease-specific immune complex antigens in seminal plasma and follicular fluids derived from infertile men and women

Background: Autoimmune reactions and subsequent inflammation may underlie spermatogenic dysfunction and endometriosis-related infertility.The aim of this study is to identify disease-specific antigens in immune complexes (ICs) in seminal plasma (SP) and in follicular fluid (FF).Methods: Immune complexome analysis, in which nano-liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry is employed to comprehensively identify antigens incorporated into ICs in biological fluids, was performed for specimens collected from infertile couples undergoing assisted reproduction.Forty-two male patients consisting of subjects with oligozoospermia (n=6), asthenozoospermia (n=8), and normal semen analysis (n=28). Fifty-eight female patients consisting of subjects with ovarian endometriosis (n=10) and control women without disease (n=48).Results: Four disease-specific antigens were identified in subjects with oligozoospermia, while five disease-specific antigens were detected in subjects with asthenozoospermia, some of which are involved in sprematogenesis. Eight antigens were detected only in subjects with endometriosis.Conclusion: Functional characteristics of disease-specific antigens were found to correspond to the pathogenesis of male and female infertility. The formation of ICs may contribute to spermatogenic dysfunction and endometriosis-related infertility via loss of function of the related proteins. Immune complexome analysis is expected to be a valuable tool for the investigation of novel diagnostic methods and treatment strategies for infertility

Support team and its effects on house remodeling for aged and handicapped persons

地域で生活する高齢者･障害者にとって,住宅環境の整備は必須の要件である｡津山市では在宅生活を支援する立場にある保健婦やホームヘルパー,作業療法士等保健･福祉関係者と,建築関係者が共同で支援チームをつくり住宅改造に関わってきた｡本研究では,この支援チームが関わった事例と直接関わらないで当事者と業者のみで改造を実施した事例を比較し,支援チームが関わることの効果をみた｡調査方法は,各事例の家庭を訪問して面接聞き取り調査を行った｡調査内容は調査票を用いて改造箇所,生活空間,介護量,外出の状況について尋ねた｡改造前後の変化を比較して,支援チームの効果について以下のことが明らかになった｡ 1.支援チームの関与による浴室の改造は,入浴が可能となり生活空間が広がるなど改善が認められた｡ 2.離床を目的にした玄関･廊下･居室の改造は,外出などの日常生活行動を広げ,本人のQOLを高めることに役立つ｡以上より住宅の改造が,介護者の介護負担を必ずしも直接軽減するとは限らないが,高齢者･障害者の介護の質に変化を与えることが示唆された。The maintenance and improvement of housing environments are essential for aged and handicapped persons living in a local communities. The support team consists of public health nurses, home helpers, occupational therapists and architects took part in giving an advices for house remodeling in Tsuyama City. We compared the effectiveness of the participation of the team before and after remodeling of housing environment. An interview was conducted at each cases for places of remodeling, living spaces, quantity of care and ease of going. The results are as follows ; 1. The remodeling of bathrooms, participating support team improved the living spaces to be able to take bath. 2. The remodeling of entrances and corridors for leaving beds, improved the living space and the QOL of care recipients. The results suggest that the remodeling of houses dose not always lighten care burdens for caring, but changes the quality of care for aged and handicapped persons