On a Relation between the Flicker Value and the Vibration

Insuring fast and precise human operation is one of the engineering requirements in the developing civilization. Some man-machine system, when any operator is exposed himself to some kind of vibration, he may not perform his operation in good conditions. Then one of the interferring factors, there is a fatigue caused by vibration. In this study, subjects sit on the chair which was set on the vibration table, and were shaken vertically for some given times, then were measured whether the fatigue occured or not by flicker friction tester. Flicker patterns were analyzed according to each vibration-condition, then the authors knew that the fatigue was occured by vibration

Design and properties of polymides with electrodeposition ability for high performance insulators

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Formation and characterization of phthalocyanine dimer/C60 solar cells

AbstractOrganic solar cells with μ-oxo-bridged gallium phthalocyanine dimer (GaPc dimer) and fullerene were produced by an evaporation method. A device based on the GaPc dimer provided a conversion efficiency of 4.2×10–3%, which is better compared to a device based on phthalocyanine monomer. Dimerization effect was discussed with a molecular orbital calculation, and the crystalline phases of the present solar cells were investigated by X-ray diffraction. Further improvement of the efficiency was discussed on the basis of the experimental results

慢性閉塞性肺疾患患者における温泉療法の６分間歩行に対する効果

Our previous studies have shown that subjective symptoms and ventilatory function are improved by spa therapy in patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD). In the present study, we investigated the effects of spa therapy on six-minute walk distance in patients with COPD . Subjects were 10 patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (9 males and 1 female) admitted to our hospital to undergo pulmonary rehabilitation. All patients had complex spa therapy (swimming training in a hot spring pool, inhalation of iodine salt solution, and fango therapy) for 4 weeks. Ventilatory function, six-minute walk distance, oxygen saturation and Borg scale were measured. Vital capacity, forced expiratory volume in one second, sixminute walk distance and oxygen saturation increased, but not significantly. Significant decreases were observed for Borg scale. We found that spa therapy improved ventilatory dysfunction and six-minute walk distance in patients with COPD. The results demonstrated that spa therapy may lead to better disease control and exercise tolerance in patients with COPD.我々は温泉療法が慢性閉塞性肺疾患患者に対して, 呼吸機能改善効果を有することを報告してきた｡今回我々は慢性閉塞性肺疾患患者を対象に温泉療法の６分間歩行試験に及ぼす影響について検討した｡当院入院中の慢性閉塞性肺疾患患者10例(男性９例, 女性１例) を対象として, 温泉プール水中運動, 鉱泥湿布療法, ヨードゾル吸入療法等による複合温泉療法を4週間施行し, その間の呼吸機能, ６分間歩行試験における歩行距離, 動脈血酸素飽和度, 修正Borgスケールの変化を比較検討した｡呼吸機能検査では, 肺活量, １秒量 等の改善傾向が認められた｡６分間歩行距離, 動脈血酸素飽和度は上昇傾向にあった｡修正Borgスケールは有意に低下傾向した｡温泉療法により呼吸機能の改善が得られ, これにより動脈血酸素 飽和度及び６分間歩行距離が上昇したと考えられた｡温泉療法が慢性閉塞性肺疾患の治療に有用であることが示唆された

Morphological features of lipid droplet transition during porcine oocyte fertilisation and early embryonic development to blastocyst in vivo and in vitro

Lipid content in mammalian oocytes or embryos differs among species, with bovine and porcine oocytes and embryos showing large cytoplasmic droplets. These droplets are considered to play important roles in energy metabolism during oocyte maturation, fertilisation and early embryonic development, and also in the freezing ability of oocytes or embryos; however, their detailed distribution or function is not well understood. In the present study, changes in the distribution and morphology of porcine lipid droplets during in vivo and in vitro fertilisation, in contrast to parthenogenetic oocyte activation, as well as during their development to blastocyst stage, were evaluated by transmission electron microscopy (TEM). The analysis of semi-thin and ultra-thin sections by TEM showed conspicuous, large, electron-dense lipid droplets, sometimes associated with mitochondrial aggregates in the oocytes, irrespective of whether the oocytes had been matured in vivo or in vitro. Immediately after sperm penetration, the electron density of the lipid droplets was lost in both the in vivo and in vitro oocytes, the reduction being most evident in the oocytes developed in vitro. Density was restored in the pronculear oocytes, fully in the in vivo specimens but only partially in the in vitro ones. The number and size of the droplets seemed, however, to have decreased. At 2- to 4-cell and blastocyst stages, the features of the lipid droplets were almost the same as those of pronuclear oocytes, showing a homogeneous or saturated density in the in vivo embryos but a marbled or partially saturated appearance in the in vitro embryos. In vitro matured oocytes undergoing parthenogenesis had lipid droplets that resembled those of fertilised oocytes until the pronuclear stage. Overall, results indicate variations in both the morphology and amount of cytoplasmic lipid droplets during porcine oocyte maturation, fertilisation and early embryo development as well as differences between in vivo and in vitro development, suggesting both different energy status during preimplantation development in pigs and substantial differences between in vitro and in vivo development.</p

In vitro evaluation method for screening of candidate prebiotic foods

AbstractThe aim of this work was to develop a simple and rapid in vitro evaluation method for screening and discovery of uncharacterised and untapped prebiotic foods. Using a NMR-based metabolomic approach coupled with multivariate statistical analysis, the metabolic profiles generated by intestinal microbiota after in vitro incubation with feces were examined. The viscous substances of Japanese bunching onion (JBOVS) were identified as one of the candidate prebiotic foods by this in vitro screening method. The JBOVS were primarily composed of sugar components, especially fructose-based carbohydrates. Our results suggested that ingestion of JBOVS contributed to lactate and acetate production by the intestinal microbiota, and were accompanied by an increase in the Lactobacillus murinus and Bacteroidetes sp. populations in the intestine and fluctuation of the host-microbial co-metabolic process. Therefore, our approach should be useful as a rapid and simple screening tool for potential prebiotic foods