Design method for large-scale wide field-of-view monochromatic metalenses

We propose a novel design method for wide field-of-view monochromatic metalenses. The proposed technique partitions the outer region of a metalens into supercells, which are generated by dividing the outer region into intervals along the radial direction, where the target phase changes by 2π, and along the angular direction with a constant angular periodicity. Therefore, the shape of each supercell can be approximated as a rectangle with its size comparable to a wavelength. The arrangement of pillars within this supercell is determined by metagrating optimization via the adjoint method. The optimization process considers both inter-pillar couplings and the range of incidence angles. This makes the design of large-scale wide field-of-view high-efficiency metalenses more tractable than the conventional unit-cell-based method, which is prone to efficiency decrease especially near the lens periphery. Furthermore, it has a potential advantage in terms of computational cost over other recently proposed optimization-based methods

EACH BODY SEGMENT FUNCTION DURING THE SUPPORT PHASE OF THE DROP JUMP

INTRODUCTION: The purpose of this study was to investigate each body segment function in the takeoff motion of the drop jump. Ten male athletes performed a drop jump with the height of 40cm. They were instructed to use arm action. Their takeoff motions were filmed at 20OHz with a high speed camera. Two-dimensional coordinates were obtained by digitizing the motion with a sampling frequency of 20OHz. The data was filtered with a Butterworth digital filter at 8.5Hz. BSP of Chandler et al. (1975) were used to estimate the segmental centers of gravity and the mass center of the whole body. This data were used to calculate the generated momenta of the arms trunk (head and trunk), takeoff legs, thighs, shanks and feet in the vertical direction using method of Ae et al. (1985). Accelerative forces were calculated generated momenta by numerical differentiation. RESULTS: The arms showed a positive (but small) accelerative force (accelerating the body upward) in the early half of the support phase, and a small negative force (checking the body downward) in the later half. The trunk showed a negative accelerative force immediately after the touchdown, then gave a twopeaked pattern of positive force in the midpoint of phase and a negative force in the phase immediately before the takeoff. The takeoff legs showed the positive accelerative force throughout the overall takeoff phase, which is especially large immediately after the touchdown and before the takeoff. The force of the takeoff legs was larger than that of other parts. The thighs showed a negative accelerative force immediately after touchdown, then gave a two-peaked pattern of positive one in the midpoint of phase, and the negative one. The thighs showed the same pattern as the trunk. The shanks gave both positive and negative force alternately during takeoff. The feet showed the positive accelerative force throughout the overall takeoff phase, having the larger one immediately after the touchdown and before the takeoff. CONCLUSIONS: The arms are charged with the function of accelerating the body upward in the early half of the support phase. The trunk takes the charge of accelerating around the midpoint of phase. The takeoff legs have the accelerating function throughout the overall takeoff phase. The thighs are charged with the function around the midpoint, the shanks in the phase immediately after the touchdown and before the takeoff, and the feet during the overall takeoff phase. The positive force of the feet is especially large in the phase immediately after the touchdown and before the takeoff, which accelerate the body upward

SAM domain-containing N-terminal region of SAMHD1 plays a crucial role in its stabilization and restriction of HIV-1 infection

SAMHD1 restricts human immunodeficiency virus type 1 (HIV-1) infection in a cell-type specific manner. Other than primary monocyte derived cells and resting CD4+ T cells, the SAMHD1-mediated HIV-1 block was reported only in phorbol 12-myristate 13-acetate (PMA)-differentiated THP-1 and U937 monocyte cell lines. We previously reported that SAMHD1 restricted HIV-1 infection in TE671 rhabdomyosarcoma cells in addition to these cell lines. In this study, we compared the amounts of the full-length SAMHD1 and its deletion mutants, SAM domain containing N-terminal fragment (residues 1-119, SAMHD1n) and HD domain containing C-terminal fragment (120-626, SAMHD1c) in U937, TE671, and HeLa cells. The results showed that the full-length SAMHD1 and SAMHD1n proteins were significantly more abundant than the SAMHD1c protein in TE671 and differentiated U937 cells. The proteasome inhibitor MG132 increased the amount of the SAMHD1c and the SAMHD1c-fused GFP proteins. In contrast, the fusion of the SAMHD1n to the APOBEC3G protein inhibited Vif-induced proteasomal degradation in TE671 and in differentiated U937 cells. These results indicated that the SAMHD1 C-terminal HD domain-containing region leads the SAMHD1 to proteasomal degradation, and the SAMHD1 N-terminal SAM domain-containing region stabilizes the protein. Our study showed that the SAMHD1 protein expression is post-translationally regulated and the significance of SAM and HD domains for the full-length SAMHD1 protein stability. Further, we suggest that the SAM domain-containing N-terminal region participate in the cell-type specific restrictive function of SAMHD1 against HIV-1 infection, by protein stabilization

IDO1, FAT10, IFI6, and GILT Are Involved in the Antiretroviral Activity of γ-Interferon and IDO1 Restricts Retrovirus Infection by Autophagy Enhancement

Gamma-interferon (γ-IFN) significantly inhibits infection by replication-defective viral vectors derived from the human immunodeficiency virus type 1 (HIV-1) or murine leukemia virus (MLV) but the underlying mechanism remains unclear. Previously we reported that knockdown of γ-IFN-inducible lysosomal thiolreductase (GILT) abrogates the antiviral activity of γ-IFN in TE671 cells but not in HeLa cells, suggesting that other γ-IFN-inducible host factors are involved in its antiviral activity in HeLa cells. We identified cellular factors, the expression of which are induced by γ-IFN in HeLa cells, using a microarray, and analyzed the effects of 11 γ-IFN-induced factors on retroviral vector infection. Our results showed that the exogenous expression of FAT10, IFI6, or IDO1 significantly inhibits both HIV-1- and MLV-based vector infections. The antiviral activity of γ-IFN was decreased in HeLa cells, in which the function of IDO1, IFI6, FAT10, and GILT were simultaneously inhibited. IDO1 is an enzyme that metabolizes an essential amino acid, tryptophan. However, IDO1 did not restrict retroviral vector infection in Atg3-silencing HeLa cells, in which autophagy did not occur. This study found that IDO1, IFI6, FAT10, and GILT are involved in the antiviral activity of γ-IFN, and IDO1 inhibits retroviral infection by inducing autophagy

Markedly lower follow-up rate after liver biopsy in patients with non-alcoholic fatty liver diseases than those with viral hepatitis in Japan

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Patients with non-alcoholic fatty liver diseases (NAFLD) are recommended to have periodic follow-up exams because these patients are at increased risk of the presence of non-alcoholic steatohepatitis (NASH), which can lead to cirrhosis or hepatocellular carcinoma. We investigated the follow-up status of NAFLD patients after a liver biopsy examination.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>We compared the follow-up rates of NAFLD patients who had received an ultrasonography-guided liver biopsy and patients who had received a liver biopsy for chronic viral hepatitis (hepatitis B or C).</p> <p>Results</p> <p>The 1- and 3-year follow-up rates after the liver biopsy were 92.7% and 88.3% for patients with chronic HBV infection, and 93.4% and 88.2% for patients with chronic HCV infection, respectively. In contrast, the follow-up rates for NAFLD patients were 77.6% and 49.9%, respectively, which were significantly lower than those of patients with chronic viral hepatitis (<it>p </it>< 0.0001). Among NAFLD patients, the respective 1- and 3-year follow-up rates were 73.0% and 44.6% for patients with simple steatosis and 80.0% and 52.4% for patients with NASH based on a pathologic diagnosis, without significant difference between these two subgroups (<it>p </it>= 0.5202).</p> <p>Conclusions</p> <p>The outpatient-based follow-up rate after a liver biopsy was significantly lower in NAFLD patients compared to patients with chronic viral hepatitis, regardless of the presence of NASH. It is important to determine how to maintain regular hospital visits for NAFLD patients, preventing patient attrition.</p

Three dimensional motion analyses for rehabilitation version of Awa Odori exercise and the expectancy of physical effects

‘Awa Odori Exercise -Rehabilitation version- was developed in 2006 for the new trial of physical exercise for the aging and the impaired person with lower balance performance in Tokushima prefecture, Japan. Public relations of this exercise had been spreading over Tokushima since then. The characteristics of the exercise were highly familiar with most of people in Tokushima because of popularity in original ‘Awa Odori’. This study proposed the efficacies of Awa Odori Exercise as a rehabilitation exercise. This exercise expected the flexible balance reinforcements and the substitution for walking training with prevention of fall, bedridden and participating restriction for the old people, also promoting the health in Tokushima

Gait and posture assessments of a patient treated with deep brain stimulation in dystonia using three-dimensional motion analysis systems

Kinesiologic analysis of gait disorders, postural instabilities and abnormal movements is quite difficult to assess objectively by clinical observation, such as by specific scale and video recordings. In this study, we reported one of the aspects of the usefulness of three-dimensional motion analysis (Vicon Systems, Oxford, United Kingdom), which can measure inclusive data of movement disorders and substitute for conventional assessments. A 49-year-old man who had various dystonic symptoms, mainly on his left side of the body, responded well to deep brain stimulation (DBS). The examination quantified how the involuntary movements or other symptoms with dystonia changed before and after treatments

Relationship between Barthel Index scores during the acute phase of rehabilitation and subsequent ADL in stroke patients

The Barthel Index (BI) cannot be used to measure initial stroke severity or by extension, to stratify patients by severity in acute stroke trials because most patients are bedbound in the first few hours after stroke, either by their deficit or by medical directive. Our objectives were to clarify the threshold of acute BI for use in the prediction of subsequent independence in activities of daily living (ADL) and to assist in the definition of acute stroke rehabilitation goals. Subjects comprised 78 patients out of 191 inpatients admitted with acute stroke at our hospital during 2006-2007. The BI ADL score was divided into 2 ranges (BI≧60 and≦40), in a process similar to previous studies. During the acute period (from onset to approximately 3 weeks), all patients with a BI≧40 could improve their ADL in 6 months. Patients with a BI≦40 exhibited two ADL recovery outcomes (improved and no change) at 6 months. We also found that the skill level of basic activities related to standing was significant indicator of BI improvement (P<0.001). BI scores determined at approximately 3 weeks were reliable predictors of ADL disabilities at 6 months

Interferon regulatory factor-4 activates IL-2 and IL-4 promoters in cooperation with c-Rel.

Interferon regulatory factor (IRF)-4 is a member of the IRF transcription factor family, whose expression is primarily restricted to lymphoid and myeloid cells. In T-cells, IRF-4 expression is induced by T-cell receptor (TCR) cross-linking or treatment with phorbol-12-myristate-13-acetate (PMA)/Ionomycin, and IRF-4 is thought to be a critical factor for various functions of T-cells. To elucidate the IRF-4 functions in human adult T-cell leukemia virus type 1 (HTLV-1)-infected T-cells, which constitutively express IRF-4, we isolated IRF-4-binding proteins from T-cells, using a tandem affinity purification (TAP)-mass spectrometry strategy. Fourteen proteins were identified in the IRF-4-binding complex, including endogenous IRF-4 and the nuclear factor-kappaB (NF-κB) family member, c-Rel. The specific association of IRF-4 with c-Rel was confirmed by immunoprecipitation experiments, and IRF-4 was shown to enhance the c-Rel-dependent binding and activation of the interleukin-4 (IL-4) promoter region. We also demonstrated that IL-2 production was also enhanced by exogenously-expressed IRF-4 and c-Rel in the presence of P/I, in T-cells, and that the optimal IL-2 and IL-4 productions in vivo was IRF-4-dependent using IRF-4-/- mice. These data provide molecular evidence to support the clinical observation that elevated expression of c-Rel and IRF-4 is associated with the prognosis in adult T-cell leukemia/lymphoma (ATLL) patients, and present possible targets for future gene therapy