中国淮河流域付近の入梅前の時期における大気場や陸面状態の季節進行 (1998年の事例解析)

　Seasonal evolution of atmospheric and land surface conditions around the Huaihe River Basin in China in the pre-Meiyu stage of 1998 were examined, mainly based on the GAME re-analysis data. Around the Huaihe River Basin in China (just to the nront of the Changjiang River Basin), although the air temperature increased rapidly already in early June (the Meuyu front was located to the south of that region), the specific humidity did not increas so much at time. In addition, the latent heat supplied from the ground there decreased from late May to early June, compared to that before early May. The time mean southerly wind component across the low-level baroclinic Zone (although not so strong as in the mature stage of the Meiyu) invaded into Central Cjina during late April to early May. On the other hand, the relatively strong wind region once retreated southward in the middle of May associated with the onset of the Southeast Asian monsoon, and the calm wind region with frequent appearance of the surface high was seen around the Huaihe River Basin from late May to early June. Thus the present study shows that the Huaihe River Basin once experiences the rather drier stage just before the onset stage of the mature Meiyu there

Toward Understanding of Regional Climate in East Asia around the Last Glacial Maximum with Attention to the Seasonal Cycle and Daily Meteorological Systems

Regional climate system in East Asia shows the characteristic seasonal cycle affected by the Asian monsoon with various types of its sub-systems. The seasonal cycle there is also related greatly to behaviors of the frontal zones which are the boundaries of these sub-systems. Since the variation of global-scale environment such as the global warming influences on each monsoon sub-system in rather different manner, it is necessary to understand the joint effects of these subsystems, in order to predict the regional climate change in East Asia in the global warming. In such research, it would be also useful to examine the features in the ice age, as an opposite extreme situation against the global warming. Thus the present paper will discuss some viewpoints in investigating the regional climate in the Last Glacial Maximum with attention to the seasonal cycle and daily meteorological systems

Eastward extension of the Baiu Front on the surface weather maps in ralation to zonal scale of the area with strong low-level southerly wind toward the front

Eastward extension of the Baiu front in relation to zonal scale of the area with strong low-level southerly wind toward the front was examined based on the operational surface weather maps and the NCEP/NCAR re-analysis data mainly for the mature Baiu period (15 June to 31 July) from 1991 to 2000. During that period, the Baiu front on the surface weather maps appeared from the Changjiang River Basim to the east of the Japan Islands accompanied by the strong low-level southerly wind toward it in a wide zonal scala(～3500km), in many cases. However, the situations when the appesrance of the Baiu front was limited to the western part of the Japan Islands or limited to its eastern part are sometimes found with relatively narrow zonal acale of the strong low-level southerly wind toward the front, although the appearance frequency of such cases was not so high. As such the present results illustrate the importance of the zonal scale of the subtropical high for the spatial activity of the Baiu front

Software Defined Media: Virtualization of Audio-Visual Services

Internet-native audio-visual services are witnessing rapid development. Among these services, object-based audio-visual services are gaining importance. In 2014, we established the Software Defined Media (SDM) consortium to target new research areas and markets involving object-based digital media and Internet-by-design audio-visual environments. In this paper, we introduce the SDM architecture that virtualizes networked audio-visual services along with the development of smart buildings and smart cities using Internet of Things (IoT) devices and smart building facilities. Moreover, we design the SDM architecture as a layered architecture to promote the development of innovative applications on the basis of rapid advancements in software-defined networking (SDN). Then, we implement a prototype system based on the architecture, present the system at an exhibition, and provide it as an SDM API to application developers at hackathons. Various types of applications are developed using the API at these events. An evaluation of SDM API access shows that the prototype SDM platform effectively provides 3D audio reproducibility and interactiveness for SDM applications.Comment: IEEE International Conference on Communications (ICC2017), Paris, France, 21-25 May 201

Experimental observations on the optimal layout of orientation blocks for safe road crossing by the visually impaired

For people with visual impairments who face difficulties when crossing the road, in urban areas of Japan the infrastructure designed to provide an indication of crossing direction and the curbstones at sidewalk-roadway boundaries often varies in reliability from one crossing to another. If anything, this promotes stress for users and is an issue for which improvement is urgently needed. The authors have proposed new orientation blocks to be installed at crosswalk entrances as a means of more accurately indicating to people with visual impairments the trajectory to follow when crossing the road, and in prior research have derived desirable specifications for the profile of these blocks and their position relative to tactile walking surface indicators (TWSI). For this paper, in order to examine in greater detail the desirable position of orientation blocks relative to TWSI, the authors conducted an experiment using totally blind subjects to evaluate conditions on a 10 m walk that simulated an actual crossing. The results, based on observations of the trajectories walked by participants in the experiment and interviews eliciting their subjective evaluations, showed that separating orientation blocks and blister tactile blocks by about 8–12 cm is effective in constraining lateral deviation at a point 5 m from the start of crossing and that an 8 cm separation was desirable in order to maintain an effective reduction of mental stress while crossing

A case study on the rainfall distribution over the Japan Islands associated with the approach of Ty0423 in late October (Comparison with that for Ty0418)

Rainfall distribution in the Japan Islands associated with the approach of Typhoon No.23 around 20 October 2004 (referred to Ty0423, hereafter) showed considerably different features from those in late summer of this year. The present study examined the detailed rainfall features around the Japan Islands brought by Ty0423 and the atmospheric processes based on the operational observation data by the Japan Meteorological Agency (JMA), comparing with those in association with Ty0418 around 7 September 2004. During the stage when Ty0423 was approaching or landing on the western part of the Japan Islands, the areal mean precipitation from Kyushu to Kanto District attained much larger than that for Ty0418, with wider extension of the area with the large amount of precipitation. It is interesting that, although the intense rainfall was observed only at the upstream side of the mountain range from Kyushu to Honshu District for Ty0418 except for the area near its center, strong rainfall with 10~30 mm/h persisted in wider regions from the western to the eastern part of the Japan Islands, resulting in the considerably large total rainfall for Ty0423. As for the case for Ty0423, the surface front with stable frontal surface was located just to the east of the Ty0423 center just before its landing at the Japan Islands. Thus, the huge moisture inflow mainly in the eastern region from the typhoon center seems to be redistributed widely over the Japan Islands area associated with the large-scale convergence around the stable frontal surface. In late October, the colder air associated with the high pressure system in the eastern Siberia can cover the northern part of the Japan Sea area as the seasonal march. Such basic field might be favorable for sustaining the synoptic-scale front just around the southern coast of the Japan Islands, even when the strong southerly wind invades associated with the typhoon approach there

Efectos de la edad y el sexo sobre la memoria espacial de ratas Wistar en el laberinto radial de 8 brazos

Trabajo de InvestigaciónEl presente estudio tuvo como objetivo evaluar el desempeño de 24 ratas Wistar en una tarea de memoria espacial, según las características de sexo y edad (ratas jóvenes y ratas adultas). Para este fin, se llevó a cabo una fase inicial de habituación de 10 minuto diarios en el laberinto radial de Olton, y una fase de entrenamiento de una tarea de memoria espacial durante 27 sesiones.INTRODUCCIÓN Y ASPECTOS GENERALES 1. RESUMEN 2. JUSTIFICACIÓN 3. MARCO TEÓRICO 4. MÉTODO 5. RESULTADOS 6. DISCUSIÓN Y CONCLUSIONES BIBLIOGRAFÍA ANEXOSPregradoPsicólog

Evaluation of the immunomodulatory ability of lactic acid bacteria isolated from feedlot cattle against mastitis using a bovine mammary epithelial cells In vitro assay

Bovine mastitis, the inflammation of the mammary gland, affects the quality and quantity of milk yield. Mastitis control relies on single or multiple combinations of antibiotic therapy. Due to increasing antibiotic resistance in pathogens, the intramammary infusion of lactic acid bacteria (LAB) has been considered as a potential alternative to antibiotics for treating and preventing bovine mastitis through the improvement of the host immunity. Probiotic effects are a strain-dependent characteristic; therefore, candidate LAB strains have to be evaluated efficiently to find out the ones with the best potential. Here, we investigated LAB strains originally isolated from feedlot cattle’s environment regarding their ability in inducing the Toll-like receptor (TLR)-triggered inflammatory responses in bovine mammary epithelial (BME) cells in vitro. The BME cells were pre-stimulated with the LAB strains individually for 12, 24, and 48 h and then challenged with Escherichia coli-derived lipopolysaccharide (LPS) for 12 h. The mRNA expression of selected immune genes—interleukin 1 alpha (IL-1α), IL-1β, monocyte chemotactic protein 1 (MCP-1), IL-8, chemokine (C-X-C motif) ligand 2 (CXCL2), and CXCL3 were quantified by real-time quantitative PCR (RT-qPCR). Results indicated that pretreatment with some Lactobacillus strains were able to differentially regulate the LPS inflammatory response in BME cells; however, strain-dependent differences were found. The most remarkable effects were found for Lactobacillus acidophilus CRL2074, which reduced the expression of IL-1α, IL-1β, MCP-1, IL-8, and CXCL3, whereas Lactobacillus rhamnosus CRL2084 diminished IL-1β, MCP-1, and IL-8 expression. The pre-stimulation of BME cells with the CRL2074 strain resulted in the upregulated expression of three negative regulators of the TLRs, including the ubiquitin-editing enzyme A20 (also called tumor necrosis factor alpha-induced protein 3, TNFAIP3), single immunoglobin IL-1 single receptor (SIGIRR), and Toll interacting protein (Tollip) after the LPS challenge. The CRL2084 pre-stimulation upregulated only Tollip expression. Our results demonstrated that the L. acidophilus CRL2074 strain possess remarkable immunomodulatory abilities against LPS-induced inflammation in BME cells. This Lactobacillus strain could be used as candidate for in vivo testing due to its beneficial effects in bovine mastitis through intramammary infusion. Our findings also suggest that the BME cells immunoassay system could be of value for the in vitro evaluation of the immunomodulatory abilities of LAB against the inflammation resulting from the intramammary infection with mastitis-related pathogens.Fil: Fukuyama, Kohtaro. Tohoku University; JapónFil: Islam, Md. Aminul. Tohoku University; Japón. Bangladesh Agricultural University; BangladeshFil: Takagi, Michihiro. Tohoku University; JapónFil: Ikeda Ohtsubo, Wakako. Tohoku University; JapónFil: Kurata, Shoichiro. Tohoku University; JapónFil: Aso, Hisashi. Tohoku University; JapónFil: Vignolo, Graciela Margarita. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - Tucumán. Centro de Referencia para Lactobacilos; ArgentinaFil: Villena, Julio Cesar. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - Tucumán. Centro de Referencia para Lactobacilos; Argentina. Tohoku University; JapónFil: Kitazawa, Haruki. Tohoku University; Japó

Hobby engagement and risk of disabling dementia

BACKGROUND: The association between hobby engagement and risk of dementia reported from a short-term follow-up study for individuals aged ≥65 years may be liable to reverse causation. We examined the association between hobby engagement in age of 40-69 years and risk of dementia in a long-term follow-up study among Japanese including individuals in mid-life, when the majority of individuals have normal cognitive function. METHODS: A total of 22,377 individuals aged 40-69 years completed a self-administered questionnaire in 1993-1994. The participants answered whether they had hobbies according to the three following responses: having no hobbies, having a hobby, and having many hobbies. Follow-up for incident disabling dementia was conducted with long-term care insurance data from 2006 to 2016. RESULTS: During 11.0 years of median follow-up, 3,095 participants developed disabling dementia. Adjusting for the demographic, behavioral, and psychosocial factors, the multivariable hazard ratios (95% confidence intervals) of incident disabling dementia compared with "having no hobbies" were 0.82 (0.75-0.89) for "having a hobby" and 0.78 (0.67-0.91) for "having many hobbies". The inverse association was similarly observed in both middle (40-64 years) and older ages (65-69 years). For disabling dementia subtypes, hobby engagement was inversely associated with the risk of dementia without a history of stroke (probably non-vascular type dementia), but not with that of post-stroke dementia (probably vascular type dementia). CONCLUSIONS: Hobby engagement in both mid-life and late-life was associated with a lower risk of disabling dementia without a history of stroke