ノイズに埋もれた漢字と仮名の認知

国立国語研究所国立国語研究所本研究では，漢字と仮名にノイズを重畳して文字認知成績に生じる影響を究明した。一般に，漢字は仮名よりも文字領域の比率が高く，黒い部分の面積が広い。このことから，黒いノイズを重畳すると，背景領域の広い仮名の方が大きな影響を受け，読み取り成績が劣ると考えられる。この予想を検証するため実験を行った結果，人間と光学式文字読み取り装置（OCR）の読み取り成績はいずれも漢字が仮名を大きく上回ることが明らかになり，仮説が支持された。これらの結果に関して，文字の有するパターン性の観点から考察を行った。The purpose of this paper is to investigate recognition performance of Kanji and Kana overlaid with additive noise. In genaral, Kanji have more pixels than Kana in the size-and-position normalized binary image,so it was expected that the effect of additive noise would be more obvious for Kana than for Kanji. Two experiments examined the validity of this prediction with humans and OCR. The recognition rate is different between Kanji and Kana with additive noise, Kanji show a higher rate and robustness of recognition than Kana. This result seems to support the hypothesis that Kanji has rich pattern structure.17の書名 : 国立国語研究所研究報告

Maillard reaction product of rare sugar allulose decreases bacteria-derived and chemically-prepared hydrogen sulfide

福岡歯科大学2022年

Generation of Intense Phase-Stable Femtosecond Hard X-ray Pulse Pairs

Coherent nonlinear spectroscopies and imaging in the X-ray domain provide direct insight into the coupled motions of electrons and nuclei with resolution on the electronic length and time scale. The experimental realization of such techniques will strongly benefit from access to intense, coherent pairs of femtosecond X-ray pulses. We have observed phase-stable X-ray pulse pairs containing more thank 3 x 10e7 photons at 5.9 keV (2.1 Angstrom) with about 1 fs duration and 2-5 fs separation. The highly directional pulse pairs are manifested by interference fringes in the superfluorescent and seeded stimulated manganese K-alpha emission induced by an X-ray free-electron laser. The fringes constitute the time-frequency X-ray analogue of the Young double-slit interference allowing for frequency-domain X-ray measurements with attosecond time resolution.Comment: 39 pages, 13 figures, to be publishe

Comparison of Corneal Safety and Intraocular Pressure?Lowering Effect of Tafluprost Ophthalmic Solution with Other Prostaglandin Ophthalmic Solutions

Purpose: The benzalkonium chloride (BAK) content of tafluprost ophthalmic solution (TaprosR: tafluprost) has been reduced to balance corneal safety and preservative effectiveness (old formulation: 0.01%; new formulation: 0.001%). However, no reports have been published on its clinical effect. Therefore, we conducted a clinical research study to compare the safety of BAK-reduced tafluprost on the ocular surface with other prostaglandin ophthalmic solutions. Methods: This clinical study included 28 glaucoma patients (28 eyes) with a treatment history of latanoprost ophthalmic solution (XalatanR) or travoprost ophthalmic solution (Travatan Z R), who presented with corneal epithelial disorders. The subjects were switched to BAK-reduced tafluprost, and its effect on the ocular surface was examined after 1 and 2 months of treatment [using fluorescein staining score, hyperemia, tear film breakup time, and intraocular pressure (IOP) lowering]. Results: In all analyzed subjects (N=27), the fluorescein staining score was significantly improved after switching to BAK-reduced tafluprost (P<0.0001). Conversely, the IOP-lowering effect was not notably changed. The subjects switched from latanoprost (n=10) showed significant improvement in fluorescein staining score (P<0.05) as well as in IOP lowering (P<0.01). The subjects switched from travoprost (n=17) also showed significant improvement in fluorescein staining score (P<0.001), but without a significant change in IOP lowering. Conclusions: Tafluprost with reduced BAK has potential as a superior antiglaucoma drug, not only for its IOP-lowering effect, but also for its good corneal safety profile

Novel Plant-Associated Acidobacteria Promotes Growth of Common Floating Aquatic Plants, Duckweeds

Duckweeds are small, fast growing, and starch- and protein-rich aquatic plants expected to be a next generation energy crop and an excellent biomaterial for phytoremediation. Despite such an importance, very little is known about duckweed–microbe interactions that would be a key biological factor for efficient industrial utilization of duckweeds. Here we first report the duckweed growth promoting ability of bacterial strains belonging to the phylum Acidobacteria, the members of which are known to inhabit soils and terrestrial plants, but their ecological roles and plant–microbe interactions remain largely unclear. Two novel Acidobacteria strains, F-183 and TBR-22, were successfully isolated from wild duckweeds and phylogenetically affiliated with subdivision 3 and 6 of the phylum, respectively, based on 16S rRNA gene sequence analysis. In the co-culture experiments with aseptic host plants, the F-183 and TBR-22 strains visibly enhanced growth (frond number) of six duckweed species (subfamily Lemnoideae) up to 1.8–5.1 times and 1.6–3.9 times, respectively, compared with uninoculated controls. Intriguingly, both strains also increased the chlorophyll content of the duckweed (Lemna aequinoctialis) up to 2.4–2.5 times. Under SEM observation, the F-183 and TBR-22 strains were epiphytic and attached to the surface of duckweed. Taken together, our findings suggest that indigenous plant associated Acidobacteria contribute to a healthy growth of their host aquatic plants

文部科学省中央教育審議会答申・報告にみるインクルーシブ教育システム構築のための特別支援教育教員研修の動向

This paper summarises the changes from 1996 to 2017 in special needs education training for current teachers, based on findings reported by the Central Council for Education of the Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology, Japan (MEXT). As preparations to ratify the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities have progressed through the 2005 report \u27An Ideal System for Promoting Special Needs Education\u27 and the 2007 signing of the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities, special needs education has been made an issue requiring action by schools as a whole, and the proposals in the findings include creating mechanisms in the training structure centred on professional schools for teacher education, enhancing collaboration between universities and boards of education, and improving management-level training and in-school training to offer special needs education as a team. There is an increased need for training to provide the basics of special needs education to ordinary teachers as generalists, in addition to enriching training for specialists who focus on special needs education

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