Sol-gel Process for the Manufacturing of Translucent Lead Zirconate Titanate Gel-monolith

Translucent Lead Zirconate Titanate (PZT) gel-monolith was prepared by partially hydrolyzing metal alkoxides solution which modified with acetylacetone(acacH). Metal alkoxides, lead di-i-propoxide, zirconium tetra-nbutoxide and titanium tetra-i-propoxide were used as starting materials. In Infrared spectra for the translucent monolithic gel after aging at room temperature for several days or drying at 90°C for 18h, the most significant feature is the presence of band at around 1554 cm-1 which can be assigned to the v (C-O) and v (C-C) vibrati-ons of acetylacetanate group coordinated to the metal cations Ti and Zr. The diffraction peaks of PbO were found after heating at 300°C for 2h. After heating at 450 °C for 2 h, diffraction peaks of pyrochlore Pb2 Ti206 and perovskite PZT phase were observed. The diffraction peaks of PbO and pyrochlore phase disappeared after heating at 600°C, and tetragonal perovskite phase was stable up to 1000 °C. The diffraction peaks of perovskite phase were also found after heating at 430 ° for 24 h. The density of the compacted pulverizedgel after heating at 1000°C for 30 min. was 6.9 g/cm3 , about 86% of the theoretical value

Combined analysis of microstructures within an annual ring of Douglas fir (Pseudotsuga menziesii) by dynamic mechanical analysis and small angle X-ray scattering

Dynamic mechanical analysis (DMA) and small angle X-ray scattering (SAXS) measurements of water-saturated wood of Douglas fir (Pseudotsuga menziesii) in the temperature range of 0 ℃ to 100 ℃ were focused to clarify microstructural changes within an annual ring. The following results were obtained. Thermal softening behavior caused by micro-Brownian motion of lignin was observed in both earlywood and latewood. The peaks of tanδ were found at around 95 ℃ for earlywood and at around 90 ℃ for latewood. These results suggested that the structures of lignin in the cell wall were different between earlywood and latewood. SAXS measurements of water-saturated earlywood and latewood in water were performed with precise temperature control. The scattering intensity increased with increasing temperature, indicating that the density of the matrix was reduced at higher temperature. One-dimensional SAXS intensity at the equator, which approximately represents cellulose microfibrils arrangement in the matrix, was intensively analyzed using the WoodSAS model. The result of this model fitting showed that the cellulose microfibril diameter of latewood was higher than that of earlywood. In addition, the value of interfibrillar distance decreased monotonically in the earlywood, while it decreased rapidly in the latewood from 60 ℃ to 90 ℃. The changes in the cellulose microfibril (CMF) diameter and the interfibrillar distance with increasing temperature between earlywood and latewood by SAXS measurement were different. The differences in CMF diameter and inter-fibril distance between earlywood and latewood measured by SAXS also support the hypothesis that lignin structure differs between earlywood and latewood based on the results of DMA measurements

双腕ロボットによる料理作業実現のための食材の切断に関する研究～抽象操作記述と対象認識に基づく動的軌道生成～

本研究の目的は，双腕ロボットシステムを用いて人のように料理作業を行うことを題材とし，その作業の中でも基本的な操作のひとつである，食材の切断操作を実現することである．具体的には，食材の大まかな位置と，それを切断するという命令が与えられたことを前提として，対象の食材を実際に切断する為に必要な対象食材の位置姿勢の認識と，切断操作を実行するときの手先軌道の動的な生成を実現することである．認識する食材や切断操作には多くの種類があるが，本研究では特定の対象や操作を対象とした作り込みではなく，それらを作り込む際に利用できる一般化された再利用性の高いスキルとして操作を実現することを目指した. また，抽象的な作業記述を操作という単位に分割し，抽象的な操作の記述から具体的なロボットの動作軌跡を実環境に適応させて生成するための実装をスキルとして定義し，さらにスキルの内部の記述をスキル層，応動層，動作層に分けて構造化することで，抽象作業記述から動的にロボットの動作生成を行う過程を体系立てた．本研究では，食材の切断という課題の達成に必要なセンシングの要件，操作の要件を明らかにし，これに基づいた食材認識手法と切断操作の手法を提案し，これらの実行要件を満たすロボットシステムを構築し．提案手法の有効性を実験によって検証した．食材の認識では，ロボットの手先に装備したRGB-Dカメラを用いて複数の視点から得られた点群情報を統合することで食材全体の形状取得し，安定的に位置姿勢を検出する手法を提案した．食材の切断操作では，切断中に刃先に加わる反力のフィードバックを利用して動的に軌道生成を行い，食材の大きさや硬さに関する個体差や実行環境の違いを適応的に吸収する手法を提案した．これらの手法を，構築したロボットシステムに実装し，実際に食材の切断に成功した．電気通信大学201

Perioperative QOL in lung cancer patients

Objective : Patients with lung cancer generally undergo minimally invasive surgery, such as video-assisted thoracoscopic surgery (VATS). This study examined the changes in health conditions and symptoms of patients with lung cancer using the European Organization for Research and Treatment of Cancer-Quality of Life Questionnaire (EORTC QLQ) C-30 questionnaires after surgery. Methods : This was a longitudinal descriptive study. One hundred and three patients with lung cancer who underwent lung resection at Tokushima University Hospital between 2012 and 2021 were eligible. They completed EORTC QLQ-C30, QLQ-LC13, the Cancer Dyspnea scale (CDS), and pulmonary-ADL (P-ADL) before and 1, 3, and 6 months after surgery. Results : Regarding functional scale scores, impairments in physical and role functions persisted for 6 months after surgery. In symptom scale scores, fatigue, pain, dyspnea, and appetite loss continued for 6 months after surgery. In CDS, sense of effort, discomfort, and total dyspnea scale scores were elevated for 6 months after surgery. In P-ADL, most ADL were impaired 1 month after surgery, but recovered by 3 months. The dyspnea index of ADL was lower for 6 months after surgery. Conclusions : Impairments in health conditions and symptoms persisted for 6 months after surgery despite its minimally invasive nature

Neural RNA-binding protein Musashi1 inhibits translation initiation by competing with eIF4G for PABP

Musashi1 (Msi1) is an RNA-binding protein that is highly expressed in neural stem cells. We previously reported that Msi1 contributes to the maintenance of the immature state and self-renewal activity of neural stem cells through translational repression of m-Numb. However, its translation repression mechanism has remained unclear. Here, we identify poly(A) binding protein (PABP) as an Msi1-binding protein, and find Msi1 competes with eIF4G for PABP binding. This competition inhibits translation initiation of Msi1's target mRNA. Indeed, deletion of the PABP-interacting domain in Msi1 abolishes its function. We demonstrate that Msi1 inhibits the assembly of the 80S, but not the 48S, ribosome complex. Consistent with these conclusions, Msi1 colocalizes with PABP and is recruited into stress granules, which contain the stalled preinitiation complex. However, Msi1 with mutations in two RNA recognition motifs fails to accumulate into stress granules. These results provide insight into the mechanism by which sequence-specific translational repression occurs in stem cells through the control of translation initiation

Functional role and tobacco smoking effects on methylation of CYP1A1 gene in prostate cancer.

Cytochrome P450 (CYP) 1A1 is a phase I enzyme that can activate various compounds into reactive forms and thus, may contribute to carcinogenesis. In this study, we investigated the expression, methylation status, and functional role of CYP1A1 on prostate cancer cells. Increased expression of CYP1A1 was observed in all cancer lines (PC-3, LNCaP, and DU145) compared to BPH-1 (P < 0.05); and was enhanced further by 5-aza-2'-deoxycytidine treatment (P < 0.01). Methylation-specific PCR (MSP) and sequencing of bisulfite-modified DNA of the xenobiotic response element (XRE) enhancer site XRE-1383 indicated promoter methylation as a regulator of CYP1A1 expression. In tissue, microarrays showed higher immunostaining of CYP1A1 in prostate cancer than normal and benign prostatic hyperplasia (BPH; P < 0.001), and methylation analyses in clinical specimens revealed significantly lower methylation levels in cancer compared to BPH at all enhancer sites analyzed (XRE-1383, XRE-983, XRE-895; P < 0.01). Interestingly, smoking affected the XRE-1383 site where the methylation level was much lower in cancer tissues from smokers than non-smokers (P < 0.05). CYP1A1 levels are thus increased in prostate cancer and to determine the functional effect of CYP1A1 on cells, we depleted the gene in LNCaP and DU145 by siRNA. We observe that CYP1A1 knockdown decreased cell proliferation (P < 0.05) and increased apoptosis (P < 0.01) in both cell lines. We analyzed genes affected by CYP1A1 silencing and found that apoptosis-related BCL2 was significantly down-regulated. This study supports an oncogenic role for CYP1A1 in prostate cancer via promoter hypomethylation that is influenced by tobacco smoking, indicating CYP1A1 to be a promising target for prostate cancer treatment

Goal setting in mental health: a scoping review to inform occupational therapy practice

Purpose – Goal setting is a crucial aspect of client-centered practice in occupational therapy (OT) for mental health conditions. However, it remains to be seen how goal-setting has been delivered in mental health, particularly the OT process. The purpose of this scoping review was to explore the nature and extent of goal setting delivered in mental health and informed OT practice. Design/methodology/approach – The authors followed the guidelines of Arksey and O’Malley (2005) and searched three databases using key search terms: “mental disorder,” “goal setting,” and “occupational therapy” and their synonyms. Findings – After excluding duplicate records, the authors initially screened 883 records and resulted in 20 records in total after the screening process. Most of the identified articles used goal-setting delivered by both a health professional and a client (n = 14), and focused on people with schizophrenia or schizoaffective disorder (n = 13), but three interventions were delivered by occupational therapists. Further research needs on goal-setting in mental health OT, exploring the reliability and validity of different goal-setting strategies and investigating the effectiveness of goal-setting for promoting behavior change and client engagement across various mental health conditions and settings. Research limitations/implications – The scoping review has some limitations, such as not investigating the validity and reliability of goal-setting strategies identified, and excluding conference papers and non-English articles. Originality/value – This scoping review presents a mapping of how goal-setting has been delivered in mental health and informed OT practice. The findings suggest limited research in OT and highlight the need for more studies to address the evidence gap in individualized client-centered OT