Novel framework for assessing long‐term flood risk management pathways focusing on river channel improvement and amenity policies

Many urban areas at higher flood risk owing to climate change, and mitigating these risks requires a combination of structural and nonstructural adaptation measures. Previous studies assessing adaptation measures are limited in quantifying the effects of climatic and social changes. As an interdisciplinary approach, this study developed an agent-based model of household locational choices and combined an advanced method for deriving on-site analytical flood risk curves (90 m resolution) to explicitly reflect the present/future flood risk on the flood insurance rate. To evaluate river channel improvements and amenity policies, the proposed framework was applied to a middle stream area of the Yodo River basin, Japan. The simulation results indicated that (1) both the design level and river pathway improvements influence the flood risk (2) developing wider areas over low- and no-risk areas rather than the intensive induction to limited no-risk areas lead to a more effective reduction in flood risk. In addition, (3) an appropriate amenity policy may contribute to the attenuation of the inequality of flood risk among regions owing to the pathway of improvement. The proposed interdisciplinary approach will help decision makers in long-term flood risk management

Field-based Simplified Approach of Evaluating Knee Extensor Muscle Strength and Size in Male University Freshmen

　The purpose of this study was to examine the relationship between field-based simplified approaches and knee extensor muscle strength/size in young men. Knee extensor muscle thickness (MT) of 104 healthy university freshmen was measured at the anterior half of thigh length; maximal voluntary isometric contraction (MVIC) was measured when subjects performed knee extension. Field-based simplified approaches [sit-to-stand, standing long jump (SLJ), handgrip and upper-leg-50% (thigh) girth] were also measured. MVIC was correlated with SLJ (r = 0.361, P 0.05). MT was correlated with handgrip (r = 0.317, P 0.05) or the sit-to-stand test (r = 0.145, P > 0.05). A stepwise multiple-regression analysis was applied to the predictor thigh girth to predict knee extensor MT (R2 = 0.399). To predict knee extensor MVIC, the predictor handgrip, thigh girth and SLJ were applied (R2 = 0.381). In conclusion, knee extensor muscle strength/size could be evaluated by the field-based simplified approaches, in particular by the thigh girth measurement, which may be major determinant to maintain activities of daily living for healthy young men. However, the 4 field-based simplified approaches appear to be still not of high impact

MOIRCS Deep Survey V: A Universal Relation for Stellar Mass and Surface Brightness of Galaxies

We present a universal linear correlation between the stellar mass and surface brightness (SB) of galaxies at 0.3<z<3, using a deep K-band selected catalog in the GOODS-North region. The correlation has a nearly constant slope, independent of redshift and color of galaxies in the rest-z frame. Considering unresolved compact galaxies, the tight correlation gives a lower boundary of SB for a given stellar mass; lower SB galaxies are prohibited over the boundary. The universal slope suggests that the stellar mass in galaxies was build up over their cosmic histories in a similar manner irrelevant to galaxy mass, as oppose to the scenario that massive galaxies mainly accumulated their stellar mass by major merging. In contrast, SB shows a strong dependence on redshift for a given stellar mass. It evolves as (1+z)^(-2.0~-0.8), in addition to dimming as (1+z)^4 by the cosmological expansion effect. The brightening depends on galaxy color and stellar mass. The blue population (rest-frame U-V<0), which is dominated by young and star-forming galaxies, evolves as ~(1+z)^(-0.8 +-0.3) in the rest-V band. On the other hand, the red population (U-V>0) and the massive galaxies (M_*>10^(10)M_sun) shows stronger brightening, (1+z)^(-1.5+-0.1). Based on the comparison with galaxy evolution models, we find that the phenomena are well explained by the pure luminosity evolution of galaxies out to z~3.Comment: 10 pages, 9 figures. Accepted for publication in Ap

MOIRCS Deep Survey. X. Evolution of Quiescent Galaxies as a Function of Stellar Mass at 0.5<z<2.5

We study the evolution of quiescent galaxies at 0.5<z<2.5 as a function of stellar mass, using very deep NIR imaging data taken with the Multi-Object Infrared Camera and Spectrograph on the Subaru Telescope in the GOODS-North region. The deep NIR data allow us to construct a stellar mass-limited sample of quiescent galaxies down to ~10^{10} Msun even at z~2 for the first time. We selected quiescent galaxies with age/tau>6 by performing SED fitting of the multi broad-band photometry from the U to Spitzer 5.8um bands with the population synthesis model of Bruzual & Charlot (2003) where exponentially decaying star formation histories are assumed. The number density of quiescent galaxies increases by a factor of ~3 from 1.0<z<1.5 to 0.5<z<1.0, and by a factor of ~10 from 1.5<z<2.5 to 0.5<z<1.0, while that of star-forming galaxies with age/tau<4 increases only by factors of ~2 and ~3 in the same redshift ranges. At 0.5<z<2.5, the low-mass slope of the stellar mass function of quiescent galaxies is alpha ~ 0 -- 0.6, which is significantly flatter than those of star-forming galaxies (alpha ~ -1.3 -- -1.5). As a result, the fraction of quiescent galaxies in the overall galaxy population increases with stellar mass in the redshift range. The fraction of quiescent galaxies at 10^{11}-10^{11.5} Msun increases from ~20-30% at z~2 to ~40-60% at z~0.75, while that at 10^{10}-10^{10.5} Msun increases from <~ 5% to ~15% in the same redshift range. These results could suggest that the quenching of star formation had been more effective in more massive galaxies at 1<~z<~2. Such a mass-dependent quenching could explain the rapid increase of the number density of ~M* galaxies relative to lower-mass galaxies at z >~ 1-1.5.Comment: 12 pages, 7 figures, accepted for publication in PASJ (Subaru special issue). Updated to accepted versio

Stratifying a Risk for an Increased Variation of Airway Caliber among the Clinically Stable Asthma

ABSTRACTBackgroundRecently, correlations of peak expiratory flow (PEF) variation have been shown to facilitate the prediction of later asthma symptoms and exacerbations. However, it has not been fully examined whether or not any patient characteristics are associated with the residual airway lability in treated asthmatics. The objective of this study is to examine a predictive marker for increased variation of PEF in patients with clinically stable asthma.MethodsWe studied 297 asthmatic patients who were monitored for PEF twice a day. Asthma Control Questionnaire (ACQ), spirometry, and exhaled nitric oxide fraction (FENO) were measured. After the assessment of baseline values, PEF measuring was continued and associations between these clinical markers and later variation of PEF over a week (Min%Max) were investigated.Results17.5% of the subjects showed increased PEF variability (Min%Max < 80%). ACQ, forced expiratory volume in 1 s % of predicted (%FEV1), and FENO were identified as independent predictors of Min%Max < 80%. An ACQ ≥ 0.4 yielded 96% sensitivity and 59% specificity, a %FEV1 ≤ 85% yielded 62% sensitivity and 89% specificity, and a FENO ≥ 40 ppb yielded 75% sensitivity and 90% specificity for identifying the subjects with high variability in PEF. When we combine %FEV1 ≤ 85% and FENO ≥ 40 ppb, this index showed the highest specificity (98%) for increased PEF variability.ConclusionsThese results indicate that ACQ, %FEV1 and FENO can stratify the risk for increased variation in airway caliber among patients with stable asthma. This may help identify subjects in whom further monitoring of lung function fluctuations is indicated

MOIRCS Deep Survey. VII: NIR Morphologies of Star-forming Galaxies at Redshift z~1

We investigate rest-frame near-infrared (NIR) morphologies of a sample of 139 galaxies with M_{s} >= 1 x 10^{10} M_{sun} at z=0.8-1.2 in the GOODS-North field using our deep NIR imaging data (MOIRCS Deep Survey, MODS). We focus on Luminous Infrared Galaxies (LIRGs), which dominate high star formation rate (SFR) density at z~1, in the sample identified by cross-correlating with the Spitzer/MIPS 24um source catalog. We perform two-dimensional light profile fitting of the z~1 galaxies in the Ks-band (rest-frame J-band) with a single component Sersic model. We find that at z~1, ~90% of LIRGs have low Sersic indices (n<2.5, similar to disk-like galaxies) in the Ks-band, and those disk-like LIRGs consist of ~60% of the whole disk-like sample above M_{s} >= 3 x 10^{10} M_{sun}. The z~1 disk-like LIRGs are comparable or ~20% small at a maximum in size compared to local disk-like galaxies in the same stellar mass range. If we examine rest-frame UV-optical morphologies using the HST/ACS images, the rest-frame B-band sizes of the z~1 disk-like galaxies are comparable to those of the local disk-like galaxies as reported by previous studies on size evolution of disk-like galaxies in the rest-frame optical band. Measuring color gradients (galaxy sizes as a function of wavelength) of the z~1 and local disk-like galaxies, we find that the z~1 disk-like galaxies have 3-5 times steeper color gradient than the local ones. Our results indicate that (i) more than a half of relatively massive disk-like galaxies at z~1 are in violent star formation epochs observed as LIRGs, and also (ii) most of those LIRGs are constructing their fundamental disk structure vigorously. The high SFR density in the universe at z~1 may be dominated by such star formation in disk region in massive galaxies.Comment: 16 pages, 15 figures, accepted for publication in PASJ. Catalog data will be available at http://astr.tohoku.ac.jp/MODS/wiki/index.php soo

Assembly of Massive Galaxies in a High-z Protocluster

We present the results of wide-field deep JHK imaging of the SSA22 field using MOIRCS instrument equipped with Subaru telescope. The observed field is 112 arcmin^2 in area, which covers the z=3.1 protocluster characterized by the overdensities of Ly Alpha emitters (LAEs) and Ly Alpha Blobs (LABs). The 5 sigma limiting magnitude is K_{AB} = 24.3. We extract the potential protocluster members from the K-selected sample by using the multi-band photometric-redshift selection as well as the simple color cut for distant red galaxies (DRGs; J-K_{AB}>1.4). The surface number density of DRGs in our observed fields shows clear excess compared with those in the blank fields, and the location of the densest area whose projected overdensity is twice the average coincides with the large-scale density peak of LAEs. We also found that K-band counterparts with z_{phot} = 3.1 are detected for 75% (15/20) of the LABs within their Ly Alpha halo, and the 40 % (8/20) of LABs have multiple components, which gives a direct evidence of the hierarchical multiple merging in galaxy formation. The stellar mass ofLABs correlates with their luminosity, isophotal area, and the Ly Alpha velocity widths, implying that the physical scale and the dynamical motion of Ly Alpha emission are closely related to their previous star-formation activities. Highly dust-obscured galaxies such as hyper extremely red objects (HEROs; J-K_{AB}>2.1) and plausible K-band counterparts of submillimeter sources are also populated in the high density region.Comment: 21pages, accepted for publication in Astrophysical Journa

Claudin-6は、腸型胃がんの亜群において独立した予後因子であるとともにがん促進遺伝子として機能する

Background We aimed to identify novel tumor-promoting drivers highly expressed in gastric cancer (GC) that contribute to worsened prognosis in affected patients. Methods Genes whose expression was increased and correlated with worse prognosis in GC were screened using datasets from the Cancer Genome Atlas and Gene Expression Omnibus. We examined Claudin-6 (CLDN6) immunoreactivity in GC tissues and the effect of CLDN6 on cellular functions in GC cell lines. The mechanisms underlying GC-promoting function of CLDN6 were also investigated. Results CLDN6 was identified as a gene overexpressed in GC tumors as compared with adjacent non-tumorous tissues and whose increased expression was positively correlated with worse overall survival of GC patients, particularly those with Lauren’s intestinal type GC, in data from multiple publicly available datasets. Additionally, membranous CLDN6 immunoreactivity detected in intestinal type GC tumors was correlated with worse overall survival. In CLDN6-expressing GC cells, silencing of CLDN6 inhibited cell proliferation and migration/invasion abilities, possibly via suppressing transcription of YAP1 and its downstream transcriptional targets at least in part. Conclusions: This study identified CLDN6 as a GC-promoting gene, suggesting that CLDN6 to be a possible single prognostic marker and promising therapeutic target for a subset of GC patients