SOLAR-A

The DSN (Deep Space Network) mission support requirements for SOLAR-A are summarized. The SOLAR-A mission objectives are to investigate high energy phenomena of the Sun using x-ray telescopes and spectrometers during the maximum activity period of the solar cycle. The spacecraft will be launched into a circular earth orbit of approximately 500 km altitude and 31 deg inclination. The mission objectives are outlined and the DSN support requirements are defined through the presentation of tables and narratives describing the spacecraft profile; DSN support coverage; frequency assignments; support parameters for telemetry, command and support systems; and tracking support responsibility

Studies on the megakaryocytes, platelets separation and degeneration

From these findings, we confirmed that the tongue-like process formations of the cells which are still believed as the platelets formation by many investigators, would be nothing but the presentation of the cell degeneration and platelets are separated only from the tips of tentacles.</p

A Study on Type Classification of Employees and Sales Support Analysis Based on Similarity of Sales-purchase Bayesian Network Structure

Since services contain human factors of service providers and receivers, the quality and the value of services are essentially difficult to define, especially because of the two service characteristics of ‘heterogeneity’ and ‘simultaneity’. On the other hand, because there are many opportunities to provide services that are suitable for individual customer in job categories where employees directly serve customers, providing services that make use of know-how of individual employees and companies is considered to be important. However, studies which propose the optimal service method in cases featuring heterogeneity and predict its effect are unsatisfactory, despite the fact that heterogeneity of employees and customers is found to exist. The aim of this paper is to propose a sales support analysis method which can suggest reinforcement on which product or service sales is effective, by comparing the sales characteristics of the employee’s type and the current state of each employee’s sales behavior, and considering employees’ sales abilities. We constructed each employee’s sales-purchase Bayesian network model based on nationwide sales data, and proposed employees’ classification method by their sales style. Then, we calculated the conditional purchase probability of each product by stochastic reasoning, based on the constructed Bayesian network model for each type and individual employees, and proposed a sales support analysis method that enables each employee to focus on products that have not yet improved the purchase probability as recommended products, based on the comparison between the characteristics of each type’s purchase probability and that of each employee of that type

Papillary Thyroid Carcinoma Arising from a Median Ectopic Thyroid with No Thyroglossal Duct Remnant

Thyroid carcinomas arising from ectopic thyroid tissue are uncommon;most of them arise from thyroid tissue in thyroglossal cysts. A rare case of a 66-year-old woman with papillary thyroid carcinoma arising from median ectopic thyroid tissue lacking a thyroglossal duct remnant is reported. The tumor was resected by Sistrunk's procedure, and the patient's postoperative course was good

Invasive Ductal Carcinoma Arising from an Ectopic Pancreas in the Gastric Wall: A Long-Term Survival Case

A case of invasive ductal carcinoma of an ectopic pancreas in the stomach in a 74-year-old woman is presented. A 4.0 cm gastric submucosal tumor (SMT) was resected surgically. Histologically, the tumor showed cystic tissue consisting of an ectopic pancreas with foci of a moderately differentiated tubular adenocarcinoma. In this tumor, small pancreatic tissues, acini, Langerhans islets, and ductular cells were detected in the gastric SMT. The patient has experienced long-term survival. The incidence of pancreatic cancer of an ectopic pancreas is rare, and the etiology of this disease is discussed in the literature

Efficacy and safety of amrubicin hydrochloride for treatment of relapsed small cell lung cancer

Long-term survival is quite uncommon in refractory small cell lung cancer (SCLC) patients, with less than 25% of patients with limited-stage disease and 1%–2% of patients with extensive-stage disease remaining alive at five years. Recent clinical studies have demonstrated the promising efficacy of amrubicin for patients with relapsed SCLC. This review presents the results of clinical studies showing the efficacy and safety of amrubicin for the treatment of relapsed SCLC. Amrubicin is a synthetic anthracycline agent with a similar structure to doxorubicin, in which the hydroxyl group at position 9 in amrubicin is replaced by an amino group to enhance efficacy. It is converted to an active metabolite, amrubicinol, which is 5–54 times more active than amrubicin. Amrubicin and amrubicinol are inhibitors of DNA topoisomerase II, exerting their cytotoxic effects by stabilizing a topoisomerase II-mediated cleavable complex. The toxicity of amrubicin is similar to that of doxorubicin, although amrubicin shows almost no cardiotoxicity. In the relevant trials, amrubicin was administered intravenously at a dose of 35–40 mg/m2 on days 1–3 every three weeks. The response rate was 34%–52% and median survival times were 8.1–12.0 months. Common hematologic toxicities included neutropenia, leucopenia, anemia, thrombocytopenia, and febrile neutropenia. Nonhematologic adverse events included Grade 3–4 anorexia, asthenia, hyponatremia, and nausea. The results of the studies which demonstrated the efficacy of monotherapy for relapsed SCLC involved mainly Japanese patients. Therefore, it is necessary to conduct more clinical studies in non-Japanese patients to confirm the efficacy of amrubicin

Lifespan and Glucose Metabolism in Insulin Receptor Mutant Mice

Insulin/insulin-like growth factor type 1 signaling regulates lifespan and resistance to oxidative stress in worms, flies, and mammals. In a previous study, we revealed that insulin receptor (IR) mutant mice, which carry a homologous mutation found in the long-lived daf-2 mutant of Caenorhabditis elegans, showed enhanced resistance to oxidative stress cooperatively modulated by sex hormones and dietary signals (Baba et al., (2005)). We herein investigated the lifespan of IR mutant mice to evaluate the biological significance of insulin signaling in mice. Under normoxia, mutant male mice had a lifespan comparable to that of wild-type male mice. IR mutant female mice also showed a lifespan similar to that of wild-type female mice, in spite of the fact that the IR mutant female mice acquired more resistance to oxidative stress than IR mutant male mice. On the other hand, IR mutant male and female mice both showed insulin resistance with hyperinsulinemia, but they did not develop hyperglycemia throughout their entire lifespan. These data indicate that the IR mutation does not impact the lifespan in mice, thus suggesting that insulin signaling might have a limited effect on the lifespan of mice

A CONSIDERATION OF QUANTITATIVE EVALUATION OF DEXTERITY IN SPORTS EXERCISE

The aim of this study was to quantitatively evaluate dexterity on athletic motions. Subjects were three skilled and three non-skilled weight lifters. They performed power clean that is a strength-training motion. We measured trajectories of joints by using motion capture system, and calculated joint torque according to dynamical equations using only kinematic data. In order to evaluate the strength of stretch reflex and that of proprioceptive feedbacks, we employed curve fitting with the recursive least squares method in our proposed torque model that includes a term caused by stretch reflex and feedback terms with respect to the COP and COM position. The results show that the calculated coefficients reflect some dexterous behavior of skilled motions