Sedimentary process of Miocene, upper bathyal, tsunami-induced conglomerates including gigantic boulders

17th International Sedimentological Congress [ISC 2006 FUKUOKA, JAPAN] 27th August - 1th September, 2006 #e

Trace of the Median Tectonic Line in Mima area, eastern Shikoku

Tracing outcrops of shear zone were used to describe the geometry and structure of the Median Tectonic Line in Mima area, eastrn Shikoku. A distinct new fault outcrop was discovered between the Mino and Ikuchi Faults at the northern slope of the Mt. Boso. These two faults are regarded as a single continuous fault. The analysis of surface fabrics of quartz in fault in fault gauge has been carried out to determine relative fault activity events

The Chemical Composition of Ryugu: Prospects as a Reference Material for Solar System Composition

The Hayabusa 2 spacecraft sampled approximately 5.4 g of asteroid material from the Cb-type asteroid Ryugu. Initial analysis of the Ryugu materials revealed a mineralogical, chemical, and isotopic kinship to the CI chondrites. The pristine nature of Ryugu makes the returned samples ideal for constraining the composition of the Solar System. However, some elements (e.g., P, Ca, Mn, and rare earth elements) show large relative dispersions compared to the other elements in the returned materials studied so far, most likely due to the presence of aqueously formed secondary minerals (e.g., carbonates, phosphates) in Ryugu. Therefore, the estimation of the Solar System composition using currently available Ryugu data is challenging due to the so-called nugget effect of carbonates, phosphates, and possibly other accessory minerals. The nugget effect can be mitigated by analyzing a homogenized, relatively large amount of sample. We estimate that for approximately 0.1 g of Ryugu sample, the dispersion (2SD) of the bulk Mn/Cr and Rb/Sr ratios are +/-13% and +/-15%, respectively, while they will be improved to be better than +/-5% for approximately 1 g of homogenized Ryugu sample. To further constrain the Solar System composition and to evaluate if previous estimates based on CI chondrites stored in museums for decades to centuries are reliable, it is strongly recommended to determine the chemical and isotopic compositions of Ryugu using a homogenized sample prepared from relatively large (approx. 1 g) returned material. Determining Ryugu reference compositions will be used by multidisciplinary communities, including Earth and planetary sciences, astronomy, physics, and chemistry.Comment: 13 pages, 5 figures, 2 Table

Locating Congested Segments over the Internet Based on Multiple End-to-End Path Measurements

Since congestion is very likely to happen in the Internet, locating congested areas (path segments) along a congested path is vital to appropriate actions by Internet Service Providers to mitigate or prevent network performance degradation. We propose a practical method to locate congested segments by actively measuring one-way end-to-end packet losses on appropriate paths from multiple origins to multiple destinations, using a network tomographic approach. Then we conduct a long-term experiment measuring packet losses on multiple paths over the Japanese commercial Internet. The experimental results indicate that the proposed method is able to precisely locate congested segments. Some findings on congestion over the Japan Internet are also given based on the experimen

IL-10 Inhibits Transforming Growth Factor-ß-Induction of Type I Collagen mRNA Expression via Both JNK and p38 Pathways in Human Lung Fibroblasts

Transforming growth factor-ß (TGF-ß) is a key factor for understanding the pathogenesis of fibrotic disorders such as idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis (IPF). We have demonstrated that interleukin-10 (IL-10) suppresses TGF-ß-induced expression of type I collagen (COL1) mRNA in a human lung fibroblast cell line (WI-38). However, the inhibitory mechanism has not yet been clearly elucidated. Thus, in the current study, we investigate the effects of IL-10 blockade of TGF-ß signaling which regulates COL1 mRNA expression. In WI-38 cells, IL-10 inhibits TGF-ß-mediated phosphorylation of both, c-Jun HN2-terminal kinase (JNK) and p38, but does not suppress TGF-ß- mediated phosphorylation of Smad2 or affect TGF-ß-upregulation of Smad7 mRNA expression. In addition, SP600125 and SB203580, specific inhibitors of JNK and p38, respectively, attenuate TGF-ß-induced COL1 mRNA expression in WI-38 cells. These results suggest that IL-10 inhibits TGF-ß-induced COL1 mRNA expression via both JNK and p38 pathways but not Smad pathways in WI-38 cells. This inhibitory mechanism may provide a novel insight into therapeutic strategies for fibrotic disorders such as IPF

Anti-fibrotic Effects of ONO-EF-345, a Specific Phosphodiesterase IV inhibitor, on Lung Fibroblasts

Phosphodiesterase (PDE) IV inhibitors have been shown to inhibit various inflammatory reactions in pulmonary diseases such as bronchial asthma and chronic obstructive lung diseases (COPD). However, there have been no studies evaluating the effect of PDE IV inhibitors on airway fibrosis, which is a critical feature of airway remodeling in asthma and COPD. We therefore examined whether ONO-EF-345 (ONO), a PDE IV inhibitor, affected the function of lung fibroblasts. ONO suppressed TGF-ß-induced type I collagen (COL1) mRNA expression in lung fibroblasts and also inhibited TGF-ß-induced a- smooth muscle actin (SMA) protein expression. ONO did not affect Smad2 phosphorylation or Smad7 expression. However, ONO reduced JNK and p38 activation, which regulates TGF-ß-induced COL1 expression. These results indicate that PDE IV inhibitors exert anti-fibrotic effects through the JNK and/or p38 pathways

Thermal Infrared Imaging Experiments of C-Type Asteroid 162173 Ryugu on Hayabusa2

The thermal infrared imager TIR onboard Hayabusa2 has been developed to investigate thermo-physical properties of C-type, near-Earth asteroid 162173 Ryugu. TIR is one of the remote science instruments on Hayabusa2 designed to understand the nature of a volatile-rich solar system small body, but it also has significant mission objectives to provide information on surface physical properties and conditions for sampling site selection as well as the assessment of safe landing operations. TIR is based on a two-dimensional uncooled micro-bolometer array inherited from the Longwave Infrared Camera LIR on Akatsuki (Fukuhara et al., 2011). TIR takes images of thermal infrared emission in 8 to 12 μm with a field of view of 16×12∘ and a spatial resolution of 0.05∘ per pixel. TIR covers the temperature range from 150 to 460 K, including the well calibrated range from 230 to 420 K. Temperature accuracy is within 2 K or better for summed images, and the relative accuracy or noise equivalent temperature difference (NETD) at each of pixels is 0.4 K or lower for the well-calibrated temperature range. TIR takes a couple of images with shutter open and closed, the corresponding dark frame, and provides a true thermal image by dark frame subtraction. Data processing involves summation of multiple images, image processing including the StarPixel compression (Hihara et al., 2014), and transfer to the data recorder in the spacecraft digital electronics (DE). We report the scientific and mission objectives of TIR, the requirements and constraints for the instrument specifications, the designed instrumentation and the pre-flight and in-flight performances of TIR, as well as its observation plan during the Hayabusa2 mission