Uranium and Thorium Isotopes Distribution in a Bottom Sediment Core from the Academician Ridge, Lake Baical, Siberia

金沢大学環日本海域環境研究センター地球環境計測研究部門Promoting Environmental Pesearch in Pan-Japan Sea Area : Young Researchers\u27 Network, Schedule: March 8-10,2006,Kanazawa Excel Hotel Tokyu, Japan, Organized by: Kanazawa University 21st-Century COE Program, Environmental Monitoring and Prediction of Long- & Short- Term Dynamics of Pan-Japan Sea Area ; IICRC(Ishikawa International Cooperation Research Centre), Sponsors : Japan Sea Research ; UNU-IAS(United Nations University Institute of Advanced Studies)+Ishikawa Prefecture Government ; City of Kanazaw

Comparison of muscle quality and functional capacity between Japanese and Brazilian older individuals

Muscle quality is well-known to decrease with aging and is a risk factor for metabolic abnormalities. However, there is a lack of information on race-associated differences in muscle quality and other neuromuscular features related to functional performance. This study aimed to compare muscle quality, function, and morphological characteristics in Japanese and Brazilian older individuals. Eighty-four participants aged 65–87 years were enrolled in the study (42 Japanese: 23 men, 19 women, mean age 70.4 years; 42 Brazilians: 23 men, 19 women, mean age 70.8 years). Echo intensity (EI) and muscle thickness (MT) of the quadriceps femoris were measured using B-mode ultrasonography. A stepwise multiple linear regression analysis with EI as a dependent variable revealed that MT was a significant variable for Japanese participants (R2 = 0.424, P = 0.001), while MT and subcutaneous adipose tissue (SCAT) thickness were significant variables for Brazilian participants (R2 = 0.490, P = 0.001). A second stepwise multiple linear regression analysis was performed after excluding MT and SCAT thickness from the independent variables. Sex and age for Japanese participants (R2 = 0.381, P = 0.001) and lean body mass and body mass index for Brazilian participants (R2 = 0.385, P = 0.001) were identified as significant independent variables. The present results suggest that MT is closely correlated with muscle quality in Japanese and Brazilian older individuals. Increases in muscle size may induce decreases in intramuscular adipose tissue and/or connective tissues, which are beneficial for reducing the risks of metabolic impairments in Japanese and Brazilian older individuals

Environmental radioactive contamination in settlements around the former Soviet Union’s Semipalatinsk nuclear test site: Sarzhal, Karaul and Kainar settlements, and some settlements located south of the Pavlodar Region

More than 450 nuclear atomic explosions including atmospheric, aboveground and underground nuclear tests had been conducted by the former Soviet Union (USSR) at the Semipalatinsk Nuclear Test Site (SNTS) over the past 40 years. Since 1994, we have concentrated our energies on assessing the human health and environmental impacts of nuclear testing. Especially, residual long-lived radionuclides such as 137Cs and Pu isotopes have been measured for soil samples from various areas. The studies focused on the evaluation of radioactive contamination in the settlements where the Semipalatinsk historical cohort resided. In October 2005, detailed soil sampling was carried out around Dolon settlement to estimate the width and position of center-axis of the fallout plume associated with the first USSR atomic bomb on 29 August 1949, and provided useful information on the efforts to estimate radiation dose in Dolon settlement as reliably as possible. Such studies were, next, devoted more time and attention to the Sarzhal and Karaul settlements located in the southeastern direction from the SNTS. The local fallout from the fist thermonuclear event on 12 August 1953 (30 m in height, 400 kt in scale) heavily affected those settlements. Here, laying stress on Sarzhal and Karaul settlements, the accumulated levels and spatial distribution of soil contamination by 137Cs and 239,240Pu have been excessively investigated since 2007. Besides, the radionuclides 236U and 237Np derived from bomb materials themselves were also measured together with the induced radionuclides, 152Eu and 60Co, in some soil samples. Based on those data obtained, radiation doses in air in two settlements were first reconstructed. As a result, adsorbed doses in air in case of the evacuation (non-evacuation) for inhabitants in Sarzhal and Karaul settlements were evaluated to be 20〜100 mGy (210〜530 mGy) and 10〜75 mGy (120〜380 mGy), respectively, as our tentative estimate for 1-year cumulative external doses mainly due to the local fallout from the first USSR hydrogen bomb test in August 1953. Apart from the above researches, in the Kainar village, one of the villages where the historical cohort resides, located south of the SNTS, and in the Pavlodar District located in the adjust north direction of the SNTS in which data were very limited, accumulated levels of 137Cs and Pu isotopes in soils have been measured for evaluating 137Cs and Pu inventories and their spatial distributions. The inventories of 137Cs found out both inside and outside of the Kainar village were in a wide range of 130〜7,500 Bq/m2. A clear shape similar to a Gaussian function along the center-axis of the radioactive plume, which has been found in Dolon, Sarzhal and Karaul settlements, was not observed in their spatial distributions, indicating a wider and uniformly close contamination of this region. On the other hand, in Pavlodar District, the 137Cs inventories ranged from 1,000 to 3,000 Bq/m2 for soil samples. As a whole, Pavlodar areas that the surveys have been conducted were found not to be contaminated so highly, compared with the northeastern areas including Dolon settlement contaminated heavily by the first nuclear atomic explosion in August 1949. The obtained data were also compared with all the data from other areas where we have surveyed until now. The obtained data will be useful for future residents' exposure dose assessmentAbstract… 1 Ⅰ．はじめに… 2 Ⅱ．サルジャール及びカラウル集落… 3 Ⅲ．カイナル集落及びパブロダール州南部の集落…16 Ⅳ．これまでに調査したセミパラチンスク全地域の137Cs及び239,240Pu蓄積量と 　　239,240Pu/137Cs及び238Pu/239,240Pu放射能比の比較… 24 Ⅴ．全体のまとめ…24 参考文献…26 Appendix…29本研究は、長期に渡る文部省の科学研究費助成金（基盤研究（A,B）: 海外、代表者 : 星 正治、山本政儀、川野徳幸） No.22404004、19404005、23406002、20406002、26257501、24310044、23310183、15H03137の助成を受けて行われた

Protocol for a multicentre, prospective, cohort study to investigate patient satisfaction and quality of life after immediate breast reconstruction in Japan: the SAQLA study

Introduction The aim of breast reconstruction (BR) is to improve patients' health-related quality of life (HRQOL). Therefore, measuring patient-reported outcomes (PROs) would clarify the value and impact of BR on a patient's life and thus would provide evidence-based information to help decision-making. The Satisfaction and Quality of Life After Immediate Breast Reconstruction study aimed to investigate satisfaction and HRQOL in Japanese patients with breast cancer who undergo immediate breast reconstruction (IBR). Methods and analysis This ongoing prospective, observational multicentre study will assess 406 patients who had unilateral breast cancer and underwent mastectomy and IBR, and were recruited from April 2018 to July 2019. All participants were recruited from seven hospitals: Okayama University Hospital, Iwate Medical University Hospital, The Cancer Institute Hospital of Japanese Foundation for Cancer Research, Showa University Hospital, University of Tsukuba Hospital, Osaka University Hospital and Yokohama City University Medical Center. The patients will be followed up for 36 months postoperatively. The primary endpoint of this study will be the time-dependent changes in BREAST-Q satisfaction with breast subscale scores for 12 months after reconstructive surgery, which will be collected via an electronic PRO system. Ethics and dissemination This study will be performed in accordance with the Ethical Guidelines for Medical and Health Research Involving Human Subjects published by Japan's Ministry of Education, Science and Technology and the Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare, the modified Act on the Protection of Personal Information and the Declaration of Helsinki. This study protocol was approved by the institutional ethics committee at the Okayama University Graduate School of Medicine, Dentistry, on 2 February 2018 (1801-039) and all other participating sites. The findings of this trial will be submitted to an international peer-reviewed journal

Fundamental physics activities with pulsed neutron at J-PARC(BL05)

"Neutron Optics and Physics (NOP/ BL05)" at MLF in J-PARC is a beamline for studies of fundamental physics. The beamline is divided into three branches so that different experiments can be performed in parallel. These beam branches are being used to develop a variety of new projects. We are developing an experimental project to measure the neutron lifetime with total uncertainty of 1 s (0.1%). The neutron lifetime is an important parameter in elementary particle and astrophysics. Thus far, the neutron lifetime has been measured by several groups; however, different values are obtained from different measurement methods. This experiment is using a method with different sources of systematic uncertainty than measurements conducted to date. We are also developing a source of pulsed ultra-cold neutrons (UCNs) produced from a Doppler shifter are available at the unpolarized beam branch. We are developing a time focusing device for UCNs, a so called "rebuncher", which can increase UCN density from a pulsed UCN source. At the low divergence beam branch, an experiment to search an unknown intermediate force with nanometer range is performed by measuring the angular dependence of neutron scattering by noble gases. Finally the beamline is also used for the research and development of optical elements and detectors. For example, a position sensitive neutron detector that uses emulsion to achieve sub-micrometer resolution is currently under development. We have succeeded in detecting cold and ultra-cold neutrons using the emulsion detector.Comment: 9 pages, 5 figures, Proceedings of International Conference on Neutron Optics (NOP2017

Erratum to: 36th International Symposium on Intensive Care and Emergency Medicine

[This corrects the article DOI: 10.1186/s13054-016-1208-6.]