Pig weight prediction system using RGB-D sensor and AR glasses: analysis method with free camera capture direction

Artificial Life and Robotics - Pig weights are important indicator for the healthcare and the economic operation of pig farms, and the development of a system to easily estimate these weights is...     

Inhibition of nitric oxide synthase attenuates osmotic thirst in the rat

Changes in water intake after intraperitoneal injection of a nitric oxide synthase (NOS) inhibitor was studied in the rat. Administration of NW-nitro-L arginine methyl ester (L-NAME) at a dose of 50 mg/kg attenuated osmotic thirst induced by intraperitoneal injection of hypertonic saline, but did not affect spontaneous intake of water and thirst induced by subcutaneous injection of angiotension II. Pretreatment with L-arginine significantly attenuated the inhibition of osmotic thirst evoked with subsequent L-NAME. Administration of NW-nitro-D-arginine methyl ester (D-NAME) altered neither the spontaneous nor the osmotic drinking behavior. These findings suggest that NO may affect the osmotically induced drinking.     

A cross-sectional analysis on relationships between maximum oxygen uptake and risk factors for cardiovascular diseases

We examined the relationships between maximum oxygen uptake (Vo2max) and cardiovascular risk factors including age (year), systolic blood pressure (mmHg), diastolic blood pressure (mmHg), serum total cholesterol level (mg/dl), serum high-density lipoprotein level (mg/dl), serum triglyceride level (mg/dl), blood glucose level (mg/dl), serum uric acid level (mg/dl), body fat (%bw), Body Mass Index (BMI), alcohol (points/day), cigarettes (/day), and physical activity (METs.exercise time/30 days). The alcohol point was defined as follows: beer 633ml = a glass of whiskey and water - sake 180ml = 1 point, and totaled at 30 days. The subjects of our study were 162 males (aged 40.6 +/- 13.1) and 133 females (aged 41.3 +/- 11.1) who underwent medical and physical examinations at the Fukui Industrial Health Center from April, 1991 to June, 1992. As a result of simple correlation analysis in males, Vo2max had significantly negative correlations with age (r = -0.223, p < 0.01), systolic blood pressure (r = -0.228, p < 0.01), diastolic blood pressure (r = -0.239, p < 0.01), or serum triglyceride level (r = -0.258, p < 0.001), serum uric acid level (p < 0.05), body fat (r = -0.230, p < 0.01), and BMI (r = -0.312, p < 0.001), and was positively correlated with physical activity (r = -0.249, p < 0.01). On the other hand, in females, age (r = -0.224, p < 0.01), systolic blood pressure (r = -0.222, p < 0.01), diastolic blood pressure (r = -0.267, p < 0.01), serum triglyceride level (r = -0.261, p < 0.001), body fat (r = -0.280, p < 0.01), and BMI (r = -302, p < 0.001), had significantly negative correlations with VO2max. However, partial correlations were tested after controlling body fat, BMI, cigarette, alcohol, physical activity, and age, none of the factors correlated with VO2max significantly. These findings suggest that the risk factors for cardiovascular diseases are related to VO2max, and the life style has an influence on these correlations. Thus, VO2max may be a comprehensive indicator for health promotion among the working population. Furthermore a longitudinal study is required to determine whether the increase in VO2max is related to the improvement in the risk of cardiovascular diseases.     

Dysphagia due to cervical spine involvement in ankylosing spondylitis

Here we present a case of a patient with a massive ossification of annulus fibrosus and longitudinal ligament at the level C3-C4, C4-C5 and C5-C6, also called the Van Swaay bridge. One can observe a propulsion of the pharingeal tissue at the level of the massive Van Swaay bridge between C5 and C6 which caused pressure and dysphagia.     

A capillary electrophoretic reactor with an electroosmosis control method for measurement of dissociation kinetics of metal complexes

The solvolytic dissociation rate constants of 1:2 complexes of Al3+ and Ga3+ with an azo dye ligand, 2,2'-dihydroxyazobenzene-5,5'-disulfonate (DHABS, H2L2-), have been evaluated with a capillary electrophoretic reactor (CER) system. This CER system is based on the fact that metal complexes encounter an overwhelming force to dissociate when apart from the ligand by CE resolution. Treatment of a capillary with a slightly acidic buffer solution, e.g., pH 5, reduces the double-layer potential (zeta) of the inner silica wall. Owing to slow relaxation of the deprotonation equilibria of superficial silanol groups known as the pH hysteresis, this zeta potential can be actually retained during the electrophoresis of the metal complexes in question with a neutral buffer at pH 7.0. This method enables one to manipulate migration times, namely, residence times in a capillary tube, from 5 to 90 min, depending on the prescribed conditioning pH, without changing any other operation conditions such as buffer composition and electric field strength. The excellent performance of the CER is exemplified by the accurate estimation of the dissociation degree of the complexes. The dissociation degree-time profiles for the complexes are quantitatively described using both internal and external standards; the very inert complex of [Co(III)L2]5- for the peak signal standardization and methyl orange for the injection volume correction. The solvolytic dissociation rate constants of the 1:2 complexes of Al3+ and Ga3+ ions with DHABS [AlL2]5- and [GaL2]5- into the 1:1 ones have been determined as (4.9+/-1.0) x 10(-4) and (3.7+/-0.3) x 10(-3) s(-1) at 303 K, respectively.     

Syntheses of inherently chiral monosulfinyltrithiacalix[4]arenes by the oxidation of one of the bridging sulfurs of a tetrathiacalix[4]arene fixed in the 1,3-alternate conformation

A new synthetic strategy for the construction of an inherently chiral, sulfur-bridged calix[4]arene molecular framework was presented by oxidation of one of the four epithio bonds of a tetrathiacalix[4]arene derivative of 1,3-alternate conformation: Tetra(carboxymethyl) ether of p-tert-butyltetrathiacalix[4]arene of 1,3-alternate conformation ( 7 ) was converted to the tetra(l-menthoxycarbonylmethyl) ether ( 8 ). Oxidation of the tetra l-menthyl ester 8 by treatment with NaBO₃ (1.1 molar equiv.) afforded a pair of diastereomers of the monosulfinyl derivatives ( 9 ) in 58% yield, which were readily separable by silica-gel column chromatography. Removal of the l-menthyl moieties followed by methyl esterification gave enantiomerically pure samples of inherently chiral (-)- and (+)-monosulfinyltrithiacalix[4]arene derivatives ((-) -10 and (+) -10 ) in 62 and 56% yield, respectively.     

A novel component different from endotoxin extracted from Prevotella intermedia ATCC 25611 activates lymphoid cells from C3H/HeJ mice and gingival fibroblasts from humans

A novel immunobiologically active fraction was prepared from a phenol-water extract of Prevotella intermedia ATCC 25611 by Sephadex G-100 column chromatography. The fraction consisted mainly of carbohydrate and protein and was devoid of fatty acid. The fraction showed high-molecular-weight bands (10,000 to 12,000) on deoxycholate polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis (DOC-PAGE) and was scarcely active in a Limulus test. We designated the fraction Prevotella glycoprotein (PGP). The PGP fraction showed strong mitogenicity on splenocytes and cytokine-inducing activities on peritoneal macrophages from both C3H/HeJ and C3H/HeN mice, and it stimulated human gingival fibroblasts to produce cytokines. The activities of the PGP fraction were resistant to heat inactivation (100 degrees C for 1 h) and protease treatments and were scarcely inhibited by polymyxin B. In contrast, the purified lipopolysaccharide fraction (LPS-PCP) extracted from the same bacterium with a phenol-chloroform-petroleum ether mixture, which showed strong Limulus activity and a single low-molecular-weight band (approximately 3,000) on DOC-PAGE, lacked the activities on splenocytes and macrophages from C3H/HeJ mice and human gingival fibroblasts. The activities of the LPS-PCP fraction on cells from C3H/HeN mice were completely inhibited by polymyxin B. The LPS extracted from the same bacterium with hot phenol-water (LPS-PW) exhibited the properties of both the PGP fraction and the LPS-PCP fraction. These findings suggest that the unique bioactivities of the LPS-PW fraction of oral black-pigmented bacteria reported to date, which differed from those of the classical endotoxin, were derived from the PGP fraction and not from the LPS itself.     

Relative contributions of age and menopause to the vertebral bone density of healthy Japanese women

The relative contributions of age and menopause to vertebral bone mineral density were evaluated based on the estimated weights for age- and menopause-related bone loss components using a mathematical model in 177 healthy female volunteers ages 35-81 years, living in a community in Fukui, Japan. Bone mineral density was determined by dual X-ray absorptiometry. The model used was that which afforded the best fit among the eight possible models to the data observed. Each model was composed of a linear function for the age-related component and a different type of function for the menopausal component, without interaction between them. The weights for these components in each model were estimated by the least-squares method. The coefficient of determination and Akaike information criterion disclosed that among the eight models tested, the model affording the best fit was composed of a logarithmic decrease in bone density with an increase in years since menopause, up to 10 years postmenopausal, with no further decline thereafter. In this model, the weights for both components were statistically significant and the type III sum of squares of the menopausal component was greater than that of the age-related component. We suggest that both age and menopause made significant contributions to the decline in vertebral bone mineral density, with the contribution of menopause being greater than that of age.     

山林地陆地γ辐射空气吸收剂量率测量

介绍了NaI就地γ谱仪在海洋性气修山林地进行的陆地γ辐射空气吸收剂量率测量。用NaI探头的响应矩阵解析就地γ谱的方法，得到0.05-3MeV间不同能量的光子在空气中的注量率谱，进而求得空气吸收剂量率。同时，作为参考，用高纯锗γ谱仪对就地测量点的土壤进行核素分析，间接估算γ剂量率，通过比较，就地测量值是可信的。