Primordial Magnetic Field from Gravitationally Coupled Electrodynamics in Bouncing Scenario

We in this paper study the generation of primordial magnetic field (PMF) in the non-singular bouncing scenario, through the coupling of the electromagnetic field to gravity. We adopt an electrodynamic model with a coupling coefficient as a function of the scale factor $a$, i.e. $f=1+(a/a_\star)^{-n}$, with $a_\star$ and $n>0$ being constants. The result implies that in this mechanism, the power spectrum of PMF today is always blue tilted on large scales from $1$ Mpc to the Hubble length, and the observational constraints favor the ekpyrotic-bounce scenario. Furthermore, the back reaction of the energy density of PMF at the bouncing point yields theoretical constraints on the bouncing model

Calprotectin and cross-linked N-telopeptides of type I collagen levels in crevicular fluid from implant sites with peri-implant diseases : a pilot study

Background: Peri-implant crevicular fluid (PICF) contains calprotectin and NTx, which are markers for inflammation and bone resorption, respectively. The aims of this pilot study were to compare calprotectin and NTx levels in PICF from implant sites with or without peri-implant diseases and to evaluate the usefulness of calprotectin and NTx as diagnostic markers for peri-implant diseases. Methods: Thirty-five patients with dental implants participated in this pilot study. PICF samples were collected from peri-implant disease sites (n = 40) and non-diseased (healthy) sites (n = 34) after clinical indicators including probing depth (PD), bleeding on probing (BOP), gingival index (GI), and bone loss (BL) rate were investigated. Calprotectin and NTx amounts in PICF were measured using their respective ELISA kits and then compared between diseased and healthy samples. The relationship between PICF calprotectin or NTx levels and clinical indicator levels was investigated. A receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve analysis of calprotectin and NTx was performed to predict peri-implant diseases. Results: Calprotectin and NTx levels in PICF were significantly higher from peri-implant disease sites than from healthy sites. PICF calprotectin amounts correlated with PD, and its levels were significantly higher in the GI-1 and GI-2 groups than in the GI-0 group. PICF NTx amounts correlated with PD and the BL rate. ROC curves indicated that PICF calprotectin and NTx are useful biomarkers for peri-implant diseases. Conclusions: Calprotectin and NTx in PICF have potential as biomarkers for the diagnosis of peri-implant diseases

The prevalence of foodborne pathogenic bacteria on cutting boards and their ecological correlation with background biota

This study implemented the pyrosequencing technique and real-time quantitative PCR to determine the prevalence of foodborne pathogenic bacteria (FPB) and as well as the ecological correlations of background biota and FPB present on restaurant cutting boards (CBs) collected in Seri Kembangan, Malaysia. The prevalence of FPB in high background biota (HBB) was lower (0.24%) compared to that of low background biota (LBB) (0.54%). In addition, a multiple linear regression analysis indicated that only HBB had a significant ecological correlation with FPB. Furthermore, statistical analysis revealed that the combinations of Clostridiales, Flavobacteriales, and Lactobacillales orders in HBB had significant negative associations with FPB, suggesting that these bacteria may interact to ensure survivability and impair the growth of pathogenic bacteria

グラス ファイバー デ ホキョウ サレタ コウキョウド コンポジット レジン オ モチイタ 3 ユニット ブリッジ チリョウ ニツイテ

Mechanical strength to withstand occlusal force is required to the crown restorations of molars. Ag-Pd-Au alloy has been used as the acceptable material of the National Health Insurance system in Japan. However, the metallic color of prosthesis does not meet the aesthetic requirements of the patients, and there is also a problem to the provider side of the treatment that the price fluctuation is large by soaring material costs. A fiber reinforced metal-less bridge is proposed to resolve these problems and we began clinical application of this prosthetic treatment from September, 2012 on the approval of Tokushima University Hospital ethics committee. So far, six patients have been treated with 8 fiber reinforced bridges, and this treatment in Tokushima University Hospital was approved in Shikoku Regional Bureau of Health and Welfare as the advanced medical. We have followed the treatment for a maximum of more than two years, and it has been passed successfully with patient's satisfaction. Slightly problems which were caused in the hybrid resin material, could be easily solved by the direct procedures. This clinical results in short term suggested that the fiber reinforced metalless bridge have a sufficiently high therapeutic effect as a prosthetic method

Immunobiotic Lactobacillus jensenii as immune-health promoting factor to improve growth performance and productivity in post-weaning pigs

Background: Immunoregulatory probiotics (immunobiotics) have been proposed to improve piglets' immune system to avoid intestinal infections and reduce unproductive inflammation after weaning. Previously, it was demonstrated that Lactobacillus jensenii TL2937 (LjTL2937) attenuated the inflammatory response triggered by activation of Toll-like receptor 4 (TLR-4) in porcine intestinal epithelial (PIE) cells and antigen presenting cells (APCs) from porcine Peyer's patches (PP).Objective: In view of the critical importance of PIE-APCs interactions in the regulation of intestinal immune responses, we aimed to examine the effect of LjTL2937 on activation patterns of APCs from swine PPs in co-cultures with PIE cells. In addition, we investigated whether LjTL2937 was able to beneficially modulate intestinal immunity of piglets after weaning to improve immune-health status.Results: Stimulation of PIE-APCs co-cultures with LjTL2937 increased the expression of MHC-II, CD80/86, IL-10, and Bcl-3 in CD172a+CD11R1- and CD172a+CD11R1high APCs. In addition, the TL2937 strain caused the upregulation of three negative regulators of TLR4 in PIE cells: MKP-1, Bcl-3 and A20. These changes significantly reduced the inflammatory response triggered by TLR4 activation in PIE-APCs co-cultures. The in vivo experiments using castrated male piglets (crossbreeding (LWD) with Landrace (L), Large Yorkshire (W) and Duroc (D))of 3 weeks of age demonstrated that feeding with LjTL2937 significantly reduced blood complement activity and C reactive protein concentrations while no changes were observed in blood leukocytes, ratio of granulocytes to lymphocyte numbers, macrophages' activity and antibody levels. In addition, treatment with LjTL2937 significantly improved growth performance and productivity, and increased carcass quality.Conclusions: We demonstrated that the use of immunobiotics strains like LjTL2937, as supplemental additives for piglets feedings, could be used as a strategy to maintain and improve intestinal homeostasis; that is important for the development of the pig and for health and performance throughout the productive life of the animal.Fil: Suda, Yoshihito. Miyagi University. Department of Food, Agriculture and Environment; JapónFil: Villena, Julio Cesar. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - Tucumán. Centro de Referencia para Lactobacilos; ArgentinaFil: Takahashi, Yu. Miyagi University. Department of Food, Agriculture and Environment; JapónFil: Hosoya, Shoichi. Tohoku University. Graduate School of Agricultural Science. Laboratory of Animal Products Chemistry. Food and Feed Immunology Group; JapónFil: Tomosada, Yohsuke. Tohoku University. Graduate School of Agricultural Science. Laboratory of Animal Products Chemistry. Food and Feed Immunology Group; JapónFil: Tsukida, Kohichiro. Tohoku University. Graduate School of Agricultural Science. Laboratory of Animal Products Chemistry. Food and Feed Immunology Group; JapónFil: Shimazu, Tomoyuki. Tohoku University. Graduate School of Agricultural Science. Laboratory of Animal Breading and Genetics ; JapónFil: Aso, Hisashi. Tohoku University. Graduate School of Agricultural Science. Cell Biology Laboratory; JapónFil: Tohno, Masanori. National Institute of Livestock and Grassland Science; JapónFil: Ishida, Mitsuharu. Miyagi University. Department of Food, Agriculture and Environment; JapónFil: Makino, Seiya. No especifíca;Fil: Ikegami, Shuji. No especifíca;Fil: Kitazawa, Haruki. Tohoku University. Graduate School of Agricultural Science. Laboratory of Animal Products Chemistry. Food and Feed Immunology Group; Japó

NMR and mutational identification of the collagen-binding site of the chaperone Hsp47.

Heat shock protein 47 (Hsp47) acts as a client-specific chaperone for collagen and plays a vital role in collagen maturation and the consequent embryonic development. In addition, this protein can be a potential target for the treatment of fibrosis. Despite its physiological and pathological importance, little is currently known about the collagen-binding mode of Hsp47 from a structural aspect. Here, we describe an NMR study that was conducted to identify the collagen-binding site of Hsp47. We used chicken Hsp47, which has higher solubility than its human counterpart, and applied a selective (15)N-labeling method targeting its tryptophan and histidine residues. Spectral assignments were made based on site-directed mutagenesis of the individual residues. By inspecting the spectral changes that were observed upon interaction with a trimeric collagen peptide and the mutational data, we successfully mapped the collagen-binding site in the B/C β-barrel domain and a nearby loop in a 3D-homology model based upon a serpin fold. This conclusion was confirmed by mutational analysis. Our findings provide a molecular basis for the design of compounds that target the interaction between Hsp47 and procollagen as therapeutics for fibrotic diseases

Lip Formation and Ejecta from LPSO-type Magnesium Alloy Plates in Hypervelocity Impact

Long period stacking ordered (LPSO) type magnesium alloys have the low density, excellent mechanical strength and ignition resistance. LPSO-type magnesium alloys have a great potential as structural materials of satellites. Lip formation and ejecta size were examined when spherical projectiles strikes thin plates made of LPSO-type magnesium alloy at hypervelocities of 5 km/s. Witness plates were placed in front of and behind each target to determine the scattering area. After impact experiments, ejecta were collected from test chamber and lips near penetration hole was examined x-ray computed cosmography (CT) in detail. Results of LPSO-type magnesium alloy plates were compared with those of aluminum alloy (A6061-T6). Images of scattering ejecta taken by a high speed video camera were also discussed.11th International Symposium on Plasticity and Impact Mechanics(IMPLAST 2016), 11 - 14 December 2016, Indian Institute of Technology Delhi, New Delhi, Indi

Pyrosequencing analysis of microbial community and food-borne bacteria on restaurant cutting boards collected in Seri Kembangan, Malaysia, and their correlation with grades of food premises

This study adopts the pyrosequencing technique to identify bacteria present on 26 kitchen cutting boards collected from different grades of food premises around Seri Kembangan, a city in Malaysia. Pyrosequencing generated 452,401 of total reads of OTUs with an average of 1.4 × 107 bacterial cells/cm2. Proteobacteria, Firmicutes and Bacteroides were identified as the most abundant phyla in the samples. Taxonomic richness was generally high with > 1000 operational taxonomic units (OTUs) observed across all samples. The highest appearance frequencies (100%) were OTUs closely related to Enterobacter sp., Enterobacter aerogenes, Pseudomonas sp. and Pseudomonas putida. Several OTUs were identified most closely related to known food-borne pathogens, including Bacillus cereus, Cronobacter sakazaki, Cronobacter turisensis, Escherichia coli, E. coli O157:H7, Hafnia alvei, Kurthia gibsonii, Salmonella bongori, Salmonella enterica, Salmonella paratyphi, Salmonella tyhpi, Salmonella typhimurium and Yersinia enterocolitica ranging from 0.005% to 0.68% relative abundance. The condition and grade of the food premises on a three point cleanliness scale did not correlate with the bacterial abundance and type. Regardless of the status and grades, all food premises have the same likelihood to introduce food-borne bacteria from cutting boards to their foods and must always prioritize the correct food handling procedure in order to avoid unwanted outbreak of food-borne illnesses

フィリピン・ルソン島地震の高密度震度分布調査

1990年7月16日午後4時26分(現地時間)にフィリピン・ルソン島の中央部に発生したフィリピン地震(M= 7.8) は，内陸部に発生した最大級の地震であり，延長約120km，水平平均ずれ量約5.0mに及ぶ左横ずれ断層が出現した。震度地は，首都マニラの北北東約110kmのDigdig断層上で，震度の深さは約25kmとされている。本地震において，多数の建物が被災し約2000名の死者と3500名の負傷者が発生し，全壊建物約22000棟，被災者約160万人に及び被害が発生した。この地震による被害は，地震断層に沿った広範囲の地域に発生したが，被害が比較的集中的に発生した地域は，震央近傍の地域より，むしろ上記地震断層の北西方向の末端部の西側に位置している地域に多数の被害建物が認められた。また，Lingayen湾に面した沿岸地域の沖積軟弱地盤地帯においては，顕著な液状化現象が発生し，多数の構造物に被害が認められた。しかし，残念ながら本地震の被災地域における強震観測記録は得られていない。本研究の目的は，アンケートによる震度推定法を用いて本地震の震源域を中心とする広い範囲の地域における震度(MM震度)を可能な限り高密度に推定し，強震記録に代わる情報のひとつとして各地の地震動の強さとその分布状況を推定することである。また，被害地域といえども，ごく狭い地域でさえ被害程度に大きな差を生じることは過去の地震において確認され，今回の地震においてもまた同様の傾向がみられた。そこで，可能な限り高密度の震度分布を推定し，被害分布などともにいわゆるサイミックマイクロゾーニングマップを作成することを最終的な目的としている。本報告は，これまでに分析ができた各地の震度分布の結果を示したのである。その結果，調査地域内の主要都市の推定震度では， La Union 州のAgoo町が最も大きく平均震度(MM震度)で10.7となり，次いでAringay町で9.8，Baguio市で8.8となるO 以下，Dagupan市で8.7，Cabanatuan市で7.8，San Carlos市で7.7，首都Manilaの北側に隣接するQuezon市で6.5と推定された。また，各州や主要都市における震度分布も明かとなっている。本調査により，1990年フィリピン地震の震源域における震度分布がほぼ明かとなり，震度分布は被害分布とよく対応し，地震動の強さを推測する上で重要な情報を提供するものと考えられる