Selective Depolymerization and Effects of Homolysis of Poly(L-lactic acid) in a Blend with Polypropylene

Blends of poly(L-lactic acid) (PLLA) and polypropylene (PP), which are candidates for the practical use of PLLA, were investigated for selective degradation of PLLA, resulting in quantitative conversion of PLLA components into cyclic monomers, lactides, using magnesium oxide (MgO) as a depolymerization catalyst. Obviously, the catalyst MgO selectively accelerated only the PLLA depolymerization in the blends, dominantly generating L,L-lactide as a volatile product and separating the PP component. Expected effects of homolysis in the blend system were also determined as slight changes in activation energy of degradation for both the components and through the suppression of degradation by an antioxidant

女子大学生の食品群摂取量の季節変動 : COVID-19流行による緊急事態宣言の期間を含む解析

　食品摂取の季節変動を明らかにすることは，季節ごとの栄養素不足のリスクや研究結果の検討において役立つ可能性がある。本研究では，緊急事態宣言が発令された2020年の春の調査を含む，女子大学生における食品群摂取量の季節変動について検討した。　20～21歳の管理栄養士養成課程の女子大学生35名を対象に， 4 季節で簡易式自記式食事歴法質問票（BDHQ）による食事調査を実施した。食品群摂取量は密度法により1,000 kcal当たりに調整して，線形混合モデル（ランダム切片・傾きモデル）による反復測定分散分析を実施した。さらに，居住形態と季節との交互作用項を含めたモデルにより，独居と同居により冬（初回調査）の摂取量および冬からの変化量に差があるのかを検討した。　対象者のBMIおよびエネルギー摂取量は，冬（20.6 kg/m2および1,652.5 kcal）を基準にして夏と秋で有意に低下していた（全てp＜0.05）。砂糖・菓子類（p＝0.05），魚介類（p＝0.09），肉類（p＝0.08），乳類（p＝0.008）の摂取量に季節変動が観察された。季節と居住形態による交互作用は，いも類（p＝0.02），果実類（p＜0.001），きのこ（p＝0.01），非アルコール飲料類（p＜0.001），魚介類（p＜0.001），卵類（p＝0.02）に観察された。　女子大学生の食品群摂取量には季節変動があり，独居か同居かにより変動の程度と方向性が異なる可能性が示唆された。さらなる研究でデータを蓄積していく必要がある

Poly(tetramethyl glycolide) from Renewable Carbon, a Racemization-Free and Controlled Depolymerizable Polyester

Racemization-free and depolymerization-controllable poly(tetramethyl glycolide) (PTMG) was synthesized from renewable resources: D/L-lactic acids and pyruvic acid. PTMG overcomes the undesirable properties of poly(lactic acid) such as low heat-resistance and racemization causing the decrease in crystallinity. PTMG was shown to have a higher melting point than 200 °C and to be a superior recyclable material capable of being depolymerized controllably into cyclic dimer tetramethyl glycolide (TMG) or methacrylic acid (MA) by using specific catalysts. PTMG can be reversibly synthesized from the depolymerized TMG. Moreover, biomass-based poly(methyl methacrylate) (PMMA) was prepared from the recovered MA

食生活の多様性とうつ病および自殺の有病率との関連 ―26年間の国際比較研究―

Purpose: This study aimed to determine the associations of dietary diversity with depression and suicide rates by an ecological analysis using 26-years worldwide statistics.Methods: Average food supply and energy supply by country, excluding loss between production and household, were obtained from the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations Statistics Division database (FAOSTAT). Dietary diversity scores were calculated from food group classifications. Age-standardized depression prevalence and suicide rates per 100,000 people by country were obtained from the Global Burden of Disease (GBD) 2017 database. The association between food diversity scores and depression prevalence and suicide rates was analyzed by a mixed effects model controlling for covariates in 137 countries with populations of 1 million or greater.Results: A significant negative association was found in the analysis of the relationship between dietary diversity and the prevalence of major depression in the model controlled for all covariates [β (se) = –225.6 (61.9), p < 0.001]. In addition, a significant negative association between dietary diversity and the suicide rate was also found in the model controlled for all covariates [β (se) = –3.08 (1.50), p < 0.05].Conclusion: Dietary diversity was significantly negatively associated with the rates of major depression and suicide. Diets rich in foods may reduce the prevalence of depression and suicide rate.【目的】本研究は、26年間の世界的な統計を用いた生態学的分析により、食生活の多様性とうつ病や自殺率との関連を明らかにすることを目的とした。【方法】生産と家庭間の喪失を除く国別平均食料供給量とエネルギー供給量を国連食糧農業機関統計局データベース（FAOSTAT）から入手した。食物群分類から食事多様性スコアを算出した。年齢標準化された国別の人口10万人当たりのうつ病有病率と自殺率は、Global Burden of Disease（GBD）2017データベースから取得した。人口100万人以上の137カ国を対象に、食品多様性スコアとうつ病有病率および自殺率との関連を、共変量を制御した混合効果モデルで解析した。【結果】食生活の多様性とうつ病の有病率との関係を分析したところ、すべての共変量を調整したモデルにおいて、有意な負の関連が認められた［β（se）＝－225.6（61.9）、p < 0.001］。さらに、食生活の多様性と自殺率との間の有意な負の関連も、すべての共変量を調整したモデルで認められた［β（se）= －3.08（1.50）、p < 0.05］。【結論】食生活の多様性は、うつ病および自殺の発生率と有意に負の関連があった。食物を豊富に含む食事は、うつ病や自殺を減少させる可能性がある

The Japanese Clinical Practice Guidelines for Management of Sepsis and Septic Shock 2016 (J-SSCG 2016)

Background and purposeThe Japanese Clinical Practice Guidelines for Management of Sepsis and Septic Shock 2016 (J-SSCG 2016), a Japanese-specific set of clinical practice guidelines for sepsis and septic shock created jointly by the Japanese Society of Intensive Care Medicine and the Japanese Association for Acute Medicine, was first released in February 2017 and published in the Journal of JSICM, [2017; Volume 24 (supplement 2)] https://doi.org/10.3918/jsicm.24S0001 and Journal of Japanese Association for Acute Medicine [2017; Volume 28, (supplement 1)] http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/jja2.2017.28.issue-S1/issuetoc.This abridged English edition of the J-SSCG 2016 was produced with permission from the Japanese Association of Acute Medicine and the Japanese Society for Intensive Care Medicine.MethodsMembers of the Japanese Society of Intensive Care Medicine and the Japanese Association for Acute Medicine were selected and organized into 19 committee members and 52 working group members. The guidelines were prepared in accordance with the Medical Information Network Distribution Service (Minds) creation procedures. The Academic Guidelines Promotion Team was organized to oversee and provide academic support to the respective activities allocated to each Guideline Creation Team. To improve quality assurance and workflow transparency, a mutual peer review system was established, and discussions within each team were open to the public. Public comments were collected once after the initial formulation of a clinical question (CQ) and twice during the review of the final draft. Recommendations were determined to have been adopted after obtaining support from a two-thirds (> 66.6%) majority vote of each of the 19 committee members.ResultsA total of 87 CQs were selected among 19 clinical areas, including pediatric topics and several other important areas not covered in the first edition of the Japanese guidelines (J-SSCG 2012). The approval rate obtained through committee voting, in addition to ratings of the strengths of the recommendation, and its supporting evidence were also added to each recommendation statement. We conducted meta-analyses for 29 CQs. Thirty-seven CQs contained recommendations in the form of an expert consensus due to insufficient evidence. No recommendations were provided for five CQs.ConclusionsBased on the evidence gathered, we were able to formulate Japanese-specific clinical practice guidelines that are tailored to the Japanese context in a highly transparent manner. These guidelines can easily be used not only by specialists, but also by non-specialists, general clinicians, nurses, pharmacists, clinical engineers, and other healthcare professionals

Vision-Based Mobile Robot Speed Control Using a Probabilistic Occupancy Map

This paper describes a method of controlling the robot speed using a probabilistic occupancy map. It is usually necessary for a robot to make sure that a target region is free before entering there. If the robot is not confident the state (free or occupied) of the region, the robot has to make enough observations to be confident. If the distance to the region is long, the robot can expect to have enough observations until reaching there. If the distance is short, however, the robot may have to slow down for making enough observations. Based on this consideration, we develop a method for controlling the robot speed by considering the state of a target region. The method is applied to our mobile robot with an omnidirectional stereo and a laser range finder. The robot successfully moved around in an unknown environment with adaptively controlling its speed.