A new position sensor for high-speed measurement of multiple points

A high-speed measuring system of multiple points is becoming an important issue in many industrial applications. Therefore, the development of a high-speed position sensor is an important issue. However, conventional sensors such as CCD(charge-coupled device) and PSD(position-sensitive detector) are insufficient to apply to the high-speed measurement of multiple points. We propose a new position sensor for high-speed measurement of multiple points. The proposed sensor features a single scanning detecting method of multiple points by parallel processing technique and design of the sensor by analog circuitry, which makes high-speed measurement of multiple points possible. The designed sensor system realizes both high-speed performance and high accuracy </p

Successful Intervention for Pressure Ulcer by Nutrition Support Team: A Case Report

A 23-year-old woman with heart failure developed pressure ulcer on her sacral area due to a long-term bed rest and impaired hemodynamics. The ulcer improved only slightly after 2 months with povidone-iodine sugar ointment because of severe nausea and anorexia. Then, the nutrition support team (NST) started intervention and estimated the patient's malnutrition from her body weight (30.1 kg), body mass index (BMI) (13.9), triceps skinfold thickness (TSF) (3.5 mm), arm circumference (AC) (17.2 cm) and serum albumin (2.6 g/dl). The NST administrated an enteral nutrition formula through a nasogastric tube and tried to provide meals according to the patient's taste. Although DESIGN score improved to 7 (DESIGN: d2e1s2i1g1n0 = 7) 2 months later, severe nausea prevented the patient from taking any food perorally. However, after nasogastric decannulation, her appetite improved and 1 month later her body weight increased to 32.8 kg, her BMI to 15.2, TSF to 7.5 mm, AC to 19.7 cm and serum albumin to 4.1 g/dl, and the wound completely healed

Impact of admission glycemia and glycosylated hemoglobin A1c on long-term clinical outcomes of non-diabetic patients with acute coronary syndrome

AbstractBackgroundAdmission glucose levels have proven to be a predictor in patients with acute myocardial infarction and elevated glycosylated hemoglobin A1c (HbA1c) is associated with an increased risk of cardiovascular disease, even in patients without diabetes. However, the effect of both admission glucose and HbA1c levels on clinical outcomes in non-diabetic patients with acute coronary syndrome (ACS) has not been fully elucidated. We evaluated the combined effect of admission glucose and HbA1c values on long-term clinical outcomes in non-diabetic patients with ACS treated with percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI).Methods and resultsThis was an observational study of 452 consecutive non-diabetic patients with ACS who underwent PCI between January 1997 and December 2006. The patients were assigned to four groups according to the median values of admission glucose and HbA1c. The primary endpoint comprising a composite of all-cause death and non-fatal MI was compared among the four groups. The primary endpoint occurred in 13.3% of the participants during a median follow-up period of 4.7 years. The cumulative incidence rate of primary endpoint significantly differed among the groups (p=0.048). Multivariable Cox regression analysis showed that the combination of elevated admission glucose and HbA1c was independently associated with long-term clinical outcomes.ConclusionsCombined admission glucose and HbA1c values were independently associated with clinical outcomes in non-diabetic patients with ACS treated with PCI

Mass spectrometry imaging of the capsaicin localization in the capsicum fruits

We succeeded in performing mass spectrometry imaging (MSI) of the localization of capsaicin in cross-sections of the capsicum fruits at a resolution of 250 µm using matrix-assisted laser desorption/ionization time-of-flight (MALDI-TOF) mass spectrometry. Post source decay of protonated capsaicin ion revealed structural information of the corresponding acid amide of vanillylamide and C9 chain fatty acid. MALDI-TOF-MSI confirmed that localization of capsaicin in the placenta is higher than that in the pericarp. In addition, it revealed no localization of capsaicin in seed and the higher localization of capsaicin at placenta surface compared with that in the internal region. A quantitative difference was detected between localizations of capsaicin at placenta, pericarp and seed in the capsicum fruits. This imaging approach is a promising technique for rapid quality evaluation general food as well as health food and identification of medicinal capsaicin in plant tissues

Cognitive Control Reflects Context Monitoring, Not Motoric Stopping, in Response Inhibition

The inhibition of unwanted behaviors is considered an effortful and controlled ability. However, inhibition also requires the detection of contexts indicating that old behaviors may be inappropriate – in other words, inhibition requires the ability to monitor context in the service of goals, which we refer to as context-monitoring. Using behavioral, neuroimaging, electrophysiological and computational approaches, we tested whether motoric stopping per se is the cognitively-controlled process supporting response inhibition, or whether context-monitoring may fill this role. Our results demonstrate that inhibition does not require control mechanisms beyond those involved in context-monitoring, and that such control mechanisms are the same regardless of stopping demands. These results challenge dominant accounts of inhibitory control, which posit that motoric stopping is the cognitively-controlled process of response inhibition, and clarify emerging debates on the frontal substrates of response inhibition by replacing the centrality of controlled mechanisms for motoric stopping with context-monitoring

脚開角度と柔軟性との関係について : 片足踏み切り前後開脚ジャンプの場合

The mechanical evaluation for the split leap where the gymnast takes off from one foot with one leg horizontally to the front and the other to the back in gymnastics and rhythmic gymnastics is based on the height of the jump and angles between the two legs. In conducting this research, we have regarded the flexibility of the hip joint as strongly influencing the performance of this movement. The flexibility is classified into static and active flexibility. This study, following traditional theory, is based on the assumption that active flexibility is more strongly correlated with performance than static flexibility. This study was conducted to find out how much the static and dynamic flexibility influence the performance of the split leap and, if the influence of the active flexibility is significant, which elements in the active flexibility are the most influential. We were able to obtain the following findings through the experiment in this study. 1. The elements that significantly influence the performance of the split leap are the static flexibility, voluntary movement range (active movement range) of the hip joint, and the ability to hold the leg at the target position. 2. The three elements, which are the maximum flection of the hip joint, extension angle of the hip joint, and physical power of the upward leg swing and hold, significantly impact the difference in performance of the split leap. 3. The dynamic flexibility influences the leg split angle in the split leap more than the passive flexibility. 4. As there were not any correlations found in the agility, balance, and muscle power, the angle between the legs in the split leap is not influenced by these elements. 5. The difference of the leg split angle among two groups, namely experienced gymnasts and less-experienced gymnasts, is attributed to the maximum flection of the hip joint, which is exhibited by the static flexibility, active movement range, and ability of the upward leg swing and hold. From the results above, we conclude that the static flexibility, voluntary movement range of the hip joint, and ability holding the lower limb at the target position

The whole blood transcriptional regulation landscape in 465 COVID-19 infected samples from Japan COVID-19 Task Force

「コロナ制圧タスクフォース」COVID-19患者由来の血液細胞における遺伝子発現の網羅的解析 --重症度に応じた遺伝子発現の変化には、ヒトゲノム配列の個人差が影響する--. 京都大学プレスリリース. 2022-08-23.Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is a recently-emerged infectious disease that has caused millions of deaths, where comprehensive understanding of disease mechanisms is still unestablished. In particular, studies of gene expression dynamics and regulation landscape in COVID-19 infected individuals are limited. Here, we report on a thorough analysis of whole blood RNA-seq data from 465 genotyped samples from the Japan COVID-19 Task Force, including 359 severe and 106 non-severe COVID-19 cases. We discover 1169 putative causal expression quantitative trait loci (eQTLs) including 34 possible colocalizations with biobank fine-mapping results of hematopoietic traits in a Japanese population, 1549 putative causal splice QTLs (sQTLs; e.g. two independent sQTLs at TOR1AIP1), as well as biologically interpretable trans-eQTL examples (e.g., REST and STING1), all fine-mapped at single variant resolution. We perform differential gene expression analysis to elucidate 198 genes with increased expression in severe COVID-19 cases and enriched for innate immune-related functions. Finally, we evaluate the limited but non-zero effect of COVID-19 phenotype on eQTL discovery, and highlight the presence of COVID-19 severity-interaction eQTLs (ieQTLs; e.g., CLEC4C and MYBL2). Our study provides a comprehensive catalog of whole blood regulatory variants in Japanese, as well as a reference for transcriptional landscapes in response to COVID-19 infection

DOCK2 is involved in the host genetics and biology of severe COVID-19

「コロナ制圧タスクフォース」COVID-19疾患感受性遺伝子DOCK2の重症化機序を解明 --アジア最大のバイオレポジトリーでCOVID-19の治療標的を発見--. 京都大学プレスリリース. 2022-08-10.Identifying the host genetic factors underlying severe COVID-19 is an emerging challenge. Here we conducted a genome-wide association study (GWAS) involving 2, 393 cases of COVID-19 in a cohort of Japanese individuals collected during the initial waves of the pandemic, with 3, 289 unaffected controls. We identified a variant on chromosome 5 at 5q35 (rs60200309-A), close to the dedicator of cytokinesis 2 gene (DOCK2), which was associated with severe COVID-19 in patients less than 65 years of age. This risk allele was prevalent in East Asian individuals but rare in Europeans, highlighting the value of genome-wide association studies in non-European populations. RNA-sequencing analysis of 473 bulk peripheral blood samples identified decreased expression of DOCK2 associated with the risk allele in these younger patients. DOCK2 expression was suppressed in patients with severe cases of COVID-19. Single-cell RNA-sequencing analysis (n = 61 individuals) identified cell-type-specific downregulation of DOCK2 and a COVID-19-specific decreasing effect of the risk allele on DOCK2 expression in non-classical monocytes. Immunohistochemistry of lung specimens from patients with severe COVID-19 pneumonia showed suppressed DOCK2 expression. Moreover, inhibition of DOCK2 function with CPYPP increased the severity of pneumonia in a Syrian hamster model of SARS-CoV-2 infection, characterized by weight loss, lung oedema, enhanced viral loads, impaired macrophage recruitment and dysregulated type I interferon responses. We conclude that DOCK2 has an important role in the host immune response to SARS-CoV-2 infection and the development of severe COVID-19, and could be further explored as a potential biomarker and/or therapeutic target