39 research outputs found
Relevance of the Core 70 and IL-28B polymorphism and response-guided therapy of peginterferon alfa-2a ± ribavirin for chronic hepatitis C of Genotype 1b: a multicenter randomized trial, ReGIT-J study
BACKGROUND: We conducted a multicenter randomized clinical trial to determine the optimal treatment strategy against chronic hepatitis C virus (HCV) with genotype 1b and a high viral load (G1b/high). METHODS: The study subjects included 153 patients with G1b/high. Patients were initially treated with PEG-IFNα-2a alone and then randomly assigned to receive different treatment regimens. Ribavirin (RBV) was administered to all patients with HCV RNA at week 4. Patients negative for HCV RNA at week 4 were randomly assigned to receive PEG-IFNα-2a (group A) or PEG-IFNα-2a/RBV (group B). Patients who showed HCV RNA at week 4 but were negative at week 12 were randomly assigned to receive weekly PEG-IFNα-2a (group C) or biweekly therapy (group D). Patients who showed HCV RNA at week 12 but were negative at week 24 were randomly assigned to receive PEG-IFNα-2a/RBV (group E) or PEG-IFNα-2a/RBV/fluvastatin (group F). RESULTS: Overall, the rate of sustained virological response (SVR) was 46 % (70/153). The total SVR rate in the group (A, D, and F) of response-guided therapy was significantly higher than that in the group (B, C, and E) of conventional therapy [70 % (38/54) versus 52 % (32/61), p = 0.049]. Although IL28-B polymorphism and Core 70 mutation were significantly associated with efficacy, patients with rapid virological response (RVR) and complete early virological response (cEVR) achieved high SVR rates regardless of their status of IL-28B polymorphism and Core 70 mutation. CONCLUSION: In addition to knowing the IL-28B polymorphism and Core 70 mutation status, understanding the likelihood of virological response during treatment is critical in determining the appropriate treatment strategy
Plant viruses and viroids in Japan
An increasing number of plant viruses and viroids have been reported from all over the world due largely to metavirogenomics approaches with technological innovation. Herein, the official changes of virus taxonomy, including the establishment of megataxonomy and amendments of the codes of virus classification and nomenclature, recently made by the International Committee on Taxonomy of Viruses were summarized. The continued efforts of the plant virology community of Japan to index all plant viruses and viroids occurring in Japan, which represent 407 viruses, including 303 virus species and 104 unclassified viruses, and 25 viroids, including 20 species and 5 unclassified viroids, as of October 2021, were also introduced. These viruses and viroids are collectively classified into 81 genera within 26 families of 3 kingdoms (Shotokuvirae, Orthornavirae, Pararnavirae) across 2 realms (Monodnaviria and Riboviria). This review also overviewed how Japan’s plant virus/viroid studies have contributed to advance virus/viroid taxonomy
Coincidence analysis to search for inspiraling compact binaries using TAMA300 and LISM data
Japanese laser interferometric gravitational wave detectors, TAMA300 and
LISM, performed a coincident observation during 2001. We perform a coincidence
analysis to search for inspiraling compact binaries. The length of data used
for the coincidence analysis is 275 hours when both TAMA300 and LISM detectors
are operated simultaneously. TAMA300 and LISM data are analyzed by matched
filtering, and candidates for gravitational wave events are obtained. If there
is a true gravitational wave signal, it should appear in both data of detectors
with consistent waveforms characterized by masses of stars, amplitude of the
signal, the coalescence time and so on. We introduce a set of coincidence
conditions of the parameters, and search for coincident events. This procedure
reduces the number of fake events considerably, by a factor
compared with the number of fake events in single detector analysis. We find
that the number of events after imposing the coincidence conditions is
consistent with the number of accidental coincidences produced purely by noise.
We thus find no evidence of gravitational wave signals. We obtain an upper
limit of 0.046 /hours (CL ) to the Galactic event rate within 1kpc from
the Earth. The method used in this paper can be applied straightforwardly to
the case of coincidence observations with more than two detectors with
arbitrary arm directions.Comment: 28 pages, 17 figures, Replaced with the version to be published in
Physical Review
Results of the search for inspiraling compact star binaries from TAMA300's observation in 2000-2004
We analyze the data of TAMA300 detector to search for gravitational waves
from inspiraling compact star binaries with masses of the component stars in
the range 1-3Msolar. In this analysis, 2705 hours of data, taken during the
years 2000-2004, are used for the event search. We combine the results of
different observation runs, and obtained a single upper limit on the rate of
the coalescence of compact binaries in our Galaxy of 20 per year at a 90%
confidence level. In this upper limit, the effect of various systematic errors
such like the uncertainty of the background estimation and the calibration of
the detector's sensitivity are included.Comment: 8 pages, 4 Postscript figures, uses revtex4.sty The author list was
correcte
Observation results by the TAMA300 detector on gravitational wave bursts from stellar-core collapses
We present data-analysis schemes and results of observations with the TAMA300
gravitational-wave detector, targeting burst signals from stellar-core collapse
events. In analyses for burst gravitational waves, the detection and
fake-reduction schemes are different from well-investigated ones for a
chirp-wave analysis, because precise waveform templates are not available. We
used an excess-power filter for the extraction of gravitational-wave
candidates, and developed two methods for the reduction of fake events caused
by non-stationary noises of the detector. These analysis schemes were applied
to real data from the TAMA300 interferometric gravitational wave detector. As a
result, fake events were reduced by a factor of about 1000 in the best cases.
The resultant event candidates were interpreted from an astronomical viewpoint.
We set an upper limit of 2.2x10^3 events/sec on the burst gravitational-wave
event rate in our Galaxy with a confidence level of 90%. This work sets a
milestone and prospects on the search for burst gravitational waves, by
establishing an analysis scheme for the observation data from an
interferometric gravitational wave detector
Stable Operation of a 300-m Laser Interferometer with Sufficient Sensitivity to Detect Gravitational-Wave Events within our Galaxy
TAMA300, an interferometric gravitational-wave detector with 300-m baseline
length, has been developed and operated with sufficient sensitivity to detect
gravitational-wave events within our galaxy and sufficient stability for
observations; the interferometer was operated for over 10 hours stably and
continuously. With a strain-equivalent noise level of , a signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) of 30 is expected for
gravitational waves generated by a coalescence of 1.4 -1.4
binary neutron stars at 10 kpc distance. %In addition, almost all noise sources
which limit the sensitivity and which %disturb the stable operation have been
identified. We evaluated the stability of the detector sensitivity with a
2-week data-taking run, collecting 160 hours of data to be analyzed in the
search for gravitational waves.Comment: 5 pages, 4 figure
Effect of Thermal Distress on Residual Behavior of CFRP-Strengthened Steel Beams Including Periodic Unbonded Zones
This paper presents the residual behavior of wide-flange steel beams strengthened with high-modulus carbon fiber-reinforced polymer (CFRP) laminates subjected to thermal loading. Because the coefficients of thermal expansion of the steel and the CFRP are different, temperature-induced distress may take place along their interface. Periodic unbonded zones are considered to represent local interfacial damage. Five test categories are designed depending on the size of the unbonded zones from 10 to 50 mm, and corresponding beams are loaded until failure occurs after exposing to a cyclic temperature range of ΔT = 25 °C (−10 to 15 °C) up to 84 days. The composite action between the CFRP and the steel substrate is preserved until yielding of the beams happens, regardless of the thermal cycling and periodic unbonded zones. The initiation and progression of CFRP debonding become apparent as the beams are further loaded, particularly at geometric discontinuities in the vicinity of the unbonded zones along the interface. A simple analytical model is employed to predict the interfacial stress of the strengthened beams. A threshold temperature difference of ΔT = 30 °C is estimated for the initiation and progression of CFRP debonding. Multiple debonding-progression stages in conjunction with the extent of thermal distress appear to exist. It is recommended that high-modulus CFRP be restrictively used for strengthening steel members potentially exposed to a wide temperature variation range