Nationwide survey on pediatric CT among children of public health and school nurses to examine a possibility for a follow-up study on radiation effects

A nationwide survey was conducted in Japan on paediatric CT among children of public health and school nurses to examine a possibility for a follow-up study on radiation effects. A survey questionnaire was sent out to 3173 public primary and junior high schools and 317 public health centres during October to December in 2009. According to the collected responses, 410 (16.2 %) children received the CT scans and the total number of CT scans was 585. Most of respondents expressed a high interest in radiation health effects and an intent to participate in the epidemiological study that will follow-up the health conditions of children. This study provides information to discuss the feasibility of the epidemiological study on health effects in children who received CT scans.     

Analyses of substrate specificity of the desulfurizing bacterium Mycobacterium sp. G3

The substrate specificity of Mycobacterium sp. G3 with desulfurization activity against dibenzothiophene (DBT) was investigated. Desulfurization reactions were carried out using a concentrated cell suspension of G3. The conversion from 4,6-dipropyl DBT, one of the sulfur-containing compounds that is difficult to desulfurize in diesel oil, to 2-hydroxy-3,3'-dipropylbiphenyl as an end -product of the desulfurization reaction was found in the water reaction system and in the oil/water two-phase reaction system. 4,6-Dibutyl DBT and 4,6-dipentyl DBT were metabolized to the hydroxybiphenyl form via the sulfone form in the water reaction system. These results indicate that G3 has high membrane permeability and superior substrate specificity for high molecular weight alkyl DBTs, which are represented by 4,6-dipentyl DBT as C10-DBT. Furthermore, G3 could desulfurize diesel oil, and the sulfur concentration was decreased from 116 mg l(-1) to 48 mg l(-1) within 24 h.     

Study on Rotational Frequency Noise in a Centrifugal Compressor for Automobile Turbochargers简

The rotational frequency noise （also known as the pulsation noise） due to the mistuning of impeller blade rows introduced at the manufacturing stage of the impellers is observed in the small-sized centrifugal compressor for automobile turbochargers. The present paper addresses the elucidation of the generating mechanism and parame- ter dependency such as the kind and degree of mistuning. In order to analyze numerically the rotational frequency noise due to mistuning, the unsteady computational fluid dynamics （CFD） of the whole compressor including vo- lute is executed, and the resultant time history of the pressure is fed into the spectral analysis.     

Lymphatic transport of a physical mixture of medium-and long-chain TAG in rats

Lymphatic transport of a mixture of medium-chain TAG (MCT) and long-chain TAG (LCT) was studied in lymph-cannulated rats. Animals were administered a test emulsion containing either triolein, tricaprylin, or a 1∶1 mixture of triolein and tricaprylin, and the lymph was collected for 24 h. The lymphatic recovery rate of medium-chain FA (MCFA) was significantly higher in rats given the TAG mixture than in those given MCT alone. The lymphatic recovery rate of long-chain FA (LCFA) also was significantly higher in rats given the TAG mixture than in those given LCT alone. No TAG containing three MCFA (i.e., MCT) was detected, and 37.7% of TAG containing one or two MCFA was detected in the lymph TAG when rats were given the TAG mixture. These results indicate that lymphatic transport of MCFA and LCFA can be modified by the combination of MCT and LCT.     

Application of a quick-freezing and deep-etching method to pathological diagnosis: a case of elastofibroma

A case of elastofibroma in a middle-aged Japanese woman was examined by the quick-freezing and deep-etching (QF-DE) method, as well as by immunohistochemistry and conventional electron microscopy. The slowly growing tumor developed at the right scapular region and was composed of fibrous connective tissue with unique elastic materials called elastofibroma fibers. A normal elastic fiber consists of a central core and peripheral zone, in which the latter has small aggregates of 10 nm microfibrils. By the QF-DE method, globular structures consisting of numerous fibrils (5-20 nm in width) were observed between the collagen bundles. We could confirm that they were microfibril-rich peripheral zones of elastofibroma fibers by comparing the replica membrane and conventional electron microscopy. One of the characteristics of elastofibroma fibers is that they are assumed to contain numerous microfibrils. Immunohistochemically, spindle tumor cells showed positive immunoreaction for vimentin, whereas alpha-smooth muscle actin, desmin, S-100 protein and CD34 showed negative immunoreaction. By conventional electron microscopy, the tumor cell had thin cytoplasmic processes, pinocytotic vesicles and prominent rough endoplasmic reticulum. Abundant intracytoplasmic filaments were observed in some tumor cells. Thick lamina-like structures along with their inner nuclear membrane were often observed in the tumor cell nuclei. The whole image of the tumor cell was considered to be a periosteal-derived cell, which would produce numerous microfibrils in the peripheral zone of elastofibroma fibers. This study indicated that the QF-DE method could be applied to the pathological diagnosis and analysis of pathomechanism, even for surgical specimens obtained from a patient.     

Immunomodulatory effects of polysaccharides produced by Lactobacillus delbrueckii ssp. bulgaricus OLL1073R-1

The extracellular polysaccharides (EPS) produced by lactic acid bacteria (LAB) are associated with the rheology, texture, and mouthfeel of fermented milk products, including yogurt. This study investigated the immunomodulatory effects of EPS purified from the culture supernatant of Lactobacillus delbrueckii ssp. bulgaricus (L. bulgaricus) OLL1073R-1. The crude EPS were prepared from the culture supernatant of L. bulgaricus OLL1073R-1 by standard chromatographic methods, and were fractionated into neutral EPS and acidic EPS (APS). Acidic EPS were further fractionated into high molecular weight APS (H-APS) and low molecular weight APS (L-APS). High molecular weight APS were shown to be phosphopolysaccharides containing D-glucose, D-galactose, and phosphorus. Stimulation of mouse splenocytes by H-APS significantly increased interferon-γ production, and, moreover, orally administered H-APS augmented natural killer cell activity. Oral administration of yogurt fermented with L. bulgaricus OLL1073R-1 and Streptococcus thermophilus OLS3059 to mice showed a similar level of immunomodulation as H-APS. However, these effects were not detected following administration of yogurt fermented with the starter combination of L. bulgaricus OLL1256 and S. thermophilus OLS3295. We conclude from these findings that yogurt fermented with L. bulgaricus OLL1073R-1, containing immunostimulative EPS, would have an immunomodulatory effect on the human body.     

MicroRNA-214 and MicroRNA-126 Are Potential Biomarkers for Malignant Endothelial Proliferative Diseases

Malignant endothelial proliferative diseases including human angiosarcoma (AS) and canine hemangiosarcoma (HSA) are serious diseases with a grave prognosis. Establishing liquid biopsy-based biomarkers for screening has definite clinical utility; however, plasma miRNAs up- or down-regulated in these sarcomas have been unclear. For identifying possible diagnostic plasma miRNAs for these sarcomas, we investigated whether plasma miR-214 and miR-126, which miRNAs play important roles in angiogenesis and tumorigenesis, were elevated in malignant endothelial proliferative diseases. For this investigation, human angiosarcoma and canine hemangiosarcoma cell lines and clinical plasma samples of canine hemangiosarcoma were examined by performing miRNA qRT-PCR. We report here that human angiosarcoma and canine hemangiosarcoma cell lines over-secreted miR-214 and miR-126 via microvesicles; in addition, their levels in the plasma samples from canines with hemangiosarcoma were increased. Moreover, the surgical resection of primary tumors decreased the levels of plasma miR-214 and miR-126. Our findings suggest that these malignant endothelial proliferative diseases over-secreted miR-214 and miR-126, thus suggesting that these miRNAs have potential as diagnostic biomarkers for malignant endothelial proliferative diseases in canine and possible in human angiosarcoma.     

Development of a person-following robotic assist walker with compliant-control arbitrated role-switching

Artificial Life and Robotics - To help ease the caregiving burden that comes with population aging, we proposed a bistable control system for walking-assist robots in which the transition between...     

Super TEX-SIM: Interactive textile design and simulation

This paper presents an interactive tool for designing and simulating textile images. It comprises a yarn editor, a textile editor and a texture mapper. These subsystems share a colour editor that can modify the colours of yarn and textile images interactively. We describe how yarn and textile images are generated, and how they are mapped to a target picture read from an image scanner. The user interface in the tool has many useful functions so that users can design textile images without knowledge of computer graphics and programming languages. Several examples of texture mapping are included.