PRIME: A System for Multi-lingual Patent Retrieval

Given the growing number of patents filed in multiple countries, users are interested in retrieving patents across languages. We propose a multi-lingual patent retrieval system, which translates a user query into the target language, searches a multilingual database for patents relevant to the query, and improves the browsing efficiency by way of machine translation and clustering. Our system also extracts new translations from patent families consisting of comparable patents, to enhance the translation dictionary

Sex Pheromones of Stenotus rubrovittatus

Two mirid bugs, Stenotus rubrovittatus and Trigonotylus caelestialium (Heteroptera: Miridae), are important pests that infest rice crops in many regions of Japan. Males of each species were attracted to traps baited with conspecific, unmated females. Hexyl butyrate, (E)-2-hexenyl butyrate, and (E)-4-oxo-2-hexenal were identified as possible female-produced sex pheromone components for S. rubrovittatus, whereas hexyl hexanoate, (E)-2-hexenyl hexanoate, and octyl butyrate were found to be sex pheromone components for T. caelestialium. Pheromone doses and ratios were optimized for attraction of males of each species. Sticky traps set up close to or below the top of the plant canopy were optimal for monitoring these species, and trap catches were almost constant when traps were placed 7 or more meters in from the edge of a paddy field. Mixed lures, in which the six compounds from both species were loaded onto a single septum, or separate lures for each species, deployed in a single trap, were equally effective for monitoring both species simultaneously

The effect of embarrassed facial expressions on observer motive <Article>

This study had two purposes: first, we investigated whether the effect of embarrassed expressions on observer motive varied as a result of the situation that caused the embarrassment, and second, we investigated whether observer motive differed by type of embarrassed facial expression. Participants read scenarios in which a friend was either positively or negatively evaluated by a third person and the friend expressed one of four types of facial expression: three embarrassed and one neutral. Participants were then asked questions that explored their motive to act on behalf of themselves, on behalf of their friend, and to attempt to recover the disrupted social interaction. In order to examine whether the effect of embarrassed expression on observer motive varied according to the situation that resulted in the embarrassment and whether observer motive differed by type of facial expression, two-way ANOVAs, simple main effect analysis, and multiple comparisons were conducted Results revealed that the interactions of situation and facial expression type were significant on all observer motive. Moreover, there were significant differences in each observer motive between types of facial expression when the friend was positively evaluated; however, no such differences were found when the friend was evaluated negatively. These findings suggest that the effect of embarrassed facial expressions on observer motive is differed by the situation that caused the embarrassment, and that the effect of facial expressions on observer motive exist in only under conditions of positive evaluation

Effect of Rust Inhibitor in Brine on Corrosion Properties of Copper

In this study, the effects of rust inhibitors in brine on corrosion behaviors of copper were investigated by measurement of cathode and anode polarization curves and an immersion test. For rust inhibitors, benzotriazole, sodium benzoate and sodium nitrite were prepared. From measurement results of cathode and anode polarization curves, it was found that the corrosion rate of copper in the benzotriazole solution is low and a stable passive film with excellent corrosion resistance generates on the surface of copper in the solution. In the case of the sodium benzoate solution, the corrosion resistance of the passive film was inferior to that in the benzotriazole solution although the passive film generated on the surface of copper. In contrast, the passive film scarcely generated on the surface of copper in the sodium nitrite solution. The result shows that the rust preventive effect of the solution to copper is weak. Furthermore, the immersion test revealed that the benzotriazole solution has the rust preventive effect to copper. In contrast, the effect of the sodium benzoate solution is weak and that of the sodium nitrite solution is scarcely expected

Selenoprotein P Controls Oxidative Stress in Cornea

The ocular surface is always attacked by oxidative stress, and cornea epithelial cells are supposed to have their own recovery system against oxidative stress. Therefore we hypothesized that tears supply key molecules for preventing oxidative stress in cornea. The potential target key molecule we focused is selenoprotein P (SeP). SeP is a carrier of selenium, which is an essential trace element for many animals, for oxidative stress metabolism in the organism, and was extremely expressed in lacrimal gland. An experiment was performed with SeP eye drops in a rat dry eye model, prepared by removing the lacrimal glands. The anticipated improvement in corneal dry eye index and the suppression of oxidative stress markers were observed in SeP eye drop group. Furthermore, the concentration of SeP was significantly higher in dry eye patients compared with normal volunteers. Collectively, we concluded that tear SeP is a key molecule to protect the ocular surface cells against environmental oxidative stress