Ultrasonic Implantation of Bioactive Glass Particles into Poly(methyl methacrylate) Substrates

Poly(methyl methacrylate) substrates were immersed in suspensions containing bioactive 50CaO･50SiO(2) (mol%) glass particles (45 μm in diameter) and a 6:4 (volume fraction) mixture of ethanol and THF, and an ultrasonic energy was applied to the system. A layer of glass particles was implanted and covered more than 50% of the substrate surface. Thin film X-ray diffraction patterns and FT-IR reflection spectra indicated deposition of apatite on the glass-implanted substrates after they were soaked for 12 h in a simulated body fluid similar in apatite-deposition ability to the human blood plasma. Flake-like apatite crystallites formed on the substrate soaked in SBF for 3 days

Effect of Alcohol on Bioactivity of Glasses

One of the CaO,SiO(2)-based bioactive glasses(5OCaO･ 5OSiO (2) in mol%) were soaked for various periods in a simulated body fluid(SBF) with or without containing alcohols such as methanol, ethanol, and 1-propanol. Effect of the alcohols was investigated on the apatite formation on the glass surface with thin-film X-ray diffraction, FT-IR reflection spectroscopy and scanning electron microscopy. Under the presence of alcohols up to 0.1mol/l in the SBF an apatite layer was formed on the glass, while it consisted of crystallites similar in morphology but larger in size than that found for the SBF without the alcohols. It was concluded that the alcohols little influenced the the apatite forming ability of the CaO,SiO(2)-based glasses

Monitoring of an Indonesian Tropical Wetland by Machine Learning-Based Data Fusion of Passive and Active Microwave Sensors

In this study, a novel data fusion approach was used to monitor the water-body extent in a tropical wetland (Lake Sentarum, Indonesia). Monitoring is required in the region to support the conservation of water resources and biodiversity. The developed approach, random forest database unmixing (RFDBUX), makes use of pixel-based random forest regression to overcome the limitations of the existing lookup-table-based approach (DBUX). The RFDBUX approach with passive microwave data (AMSR2) and active microwave data (PALSAR-2) was used from 2012 to 2017 in order to obtain PALSAR-2-like images with a 100 m spatial resolution and three-day temporal resolution. In addition, a thresholding approach for the obtained PALSAR-2-like backscatter coefficient images provided water body extent maps. The validation revealed that the spatial patterns of the images predicted by RFDBUX are consistent with the original PALSAR-2 backscatter coefficient images (r = 0.94, RMSE = 1.04 in average), and that the temporal pattern of the predicted water body extent can track the wetland dynamics. The PALSAR-2-like images should be a useful basis for further investigation of the hydrological/climatological features of the site, and the proposed approach appears to have the potential for application in other tropical regions worldwide

Functional and expressional analyses of apple FLC-like in relation to dormancy progress and flower bud development.

We previously identified the FLOWERING LOCUS C (FLC)-like gene, a MADS-box transcription factor gene that belongs to Arabidopsis thaliana L. FLC clade, in apple (Malus ×domestica Borkh.), and its expression in dormant flower buds is positively correlated with cumulative cold exposure. To elucidate the role of the MdFLC-like in the dormancy process and flower development, we first characterized the phenotypes of MdFLC-like overexpressing lines with the Arabidopsis Columbia-0 background. The overexpression of MdFLC-like significantly delayed the bolting date and reduced the plant size, but it did not significantly affect the number of rosette leaves or flower organ formation. Thus, MdFLC-like may affect vegetative growth and development rather than flowering when expressed in Arabidopsis, which is not like Arabidopsis FLC that affects development of flowering. We compared seasonal expression patterns of MdFLC-like in low-chill ‘Anna’ and high-chill ‘Fuji’ and ‘Tsugaru’ apples collected from trees grown in a cold winter region in temperate zone and found an earlier upregulation in ‘Anna’ compared with ‘Fuji’ and ‘Tsugaru’. Expression patterns were also compared in relation to developmental changes in the flower primordia during the chilling accumulation period. Overall, MdFLC-like was progressively upregulated during flower primordia differentiation and development in autumn to early winter and reached a maximum expression level at around the same time as the genotype-dependent chilling requirements were fulfilled in high-chill cultivars. Thus, we hypothesize MdFLC-like may be upregulated in response to cold exposure and flower primordia development during the progress of endodormancy. Our study also suggests MdFLC-like may have a growth-inhibiting function during the end of endodormancy and ecodormancy when the temperature is low and unfavorable for rapid bud outgrowth

The development of HISPEC for Keck and MODHIS for TMT: science cases and predicted sensitivities

HISPEC is a new, high-resolution near-infrared spectrograph being designed for the W.M. Keck II telescope. By offering single-shot, R=100,000 between 0.98 - 2.5 um, HISPEC will enable spectroscopy of transiting and non-transiting exoplanets in close orbits, direct high-contrast detection and spectroscopy of spatially separated substellar companions, and exoplanet dynamical mass and orbit measurements using precision radial velocity monitoring calibrated with a suite of state-of-the-art absolute and relative wavelength references. MODHIS is the counterpart to HISPEC for the Thirty Meter Telescope and is being developed in parallel with similar scientific goals. In this proceeding, we provide a brief overview of the current design of both instruments, and the requirements for the two spectrographs as guided by the scientific goals for each. We then outline the current science case for HISPEC and MODHIS, with focuses on the science enabled for exoplanet discovery and characterization. We also provide updated sensitivity curves for both instruments, in terms of both signal-to-noise ratio and predicted radial velocity precision.Comment: 25 pages, 9 figures. To appear in the Proceedings of SPIE: Techniques and Instrumentation for Detection of Exoplanets XI, vol. 12680 (2023

Quantitative analysis of brain atrophy in patients with xeroderma pigmentosum group A carrying the founder mutation in Japan

Introduction: Xeroderma pigmentosum (XP) is an inherited congenital disease presenting with dermatological and neurological manifestations. In Japan, XP complementation group A (XP-A) is most frequently observed in eight clinical subtypes, and the homozygous founder mutation, IVS3-1G > C in XPA, suffer from severe manifestations including progressive brain atrophy since childhood. In this study, we used magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) and applied volumetric analysis to elucidate the start and the progression of the brain atrophy in these patients. Material and methods: Twelve Japanese patients with XP-A carrying the founder mutation and seven controls were included. MRI was performed for each patient once or more. Three-dimensional T1 weighted images were segmented to gray matter, white matter, and cerebrospinal fluid, and each volume was calculated. Results: Conventional MRI demonstrated progressive whole brain atrophy in patients with XP-A. Moreover, volumetric analysis showed that reductions of total gray matter volumes (GMV) and total brain volumes (TBV) started at the age of five. The slope of reduction was similar in all cases. The GMV and TBV values in controls were higher than those in XP-A cases after the age of five. Conclusions: This is the first quantitative report presenting with the progression of brain atrophy in patients with XP-A. It is revealed that the brain atrophy started from early childhood in Japanese patients with XP-A carrying the homozygous founder mutation

Monitoring of an Indonesian Tropical Wetland by Machine Learning-Based Data Fusion of Passive and Active Microwave Sensors

In this study, a novel data fusion approach was used to monitor the water-body extent in a tropical wetland (Lake Sentarum, Indonesia). Monitoring is required in the region to support the conservation of water resources and biodiversity. The developed approach, random forest database unmixing (RFDBUX), makes use of pixel-based random forest regression to overcome the limitations of the existing lookup-table-based approach (DBUX). The RFDBUX approach with passive microwave data (AMSR2) and active microwave data (PALSAR-2) was used from 2012 to 2017 in order to obtain PALSAR-2-like images with a 100 m spatial resolution and three-day temporal resolution. In addition, a thresholding approach for the obtained PALSAR-2-like backscatter coefficient images provided water body extent maps. The validation revealed that the spatial patterns of the images predicted by RFDBUX are consistent with the original PALSAR-2 backscatter coefficient images (r = 0.94, RMSE = 1.04 in average), and that the temporal pattern of the predicted water body extent can track the wetland dynamics. The PALSAR-2-like images should be a useful basis for further investigation of the hydrological/climatological features of the site, and the proposed approach appears to have the potential for application in other tropical regions worldwide