Effect of bifidobacteria feeding on fecal flora and production of immunoglobulins in lactating mouse

To elucidate the effects of probiotics on the stimulation of immunoglobulin production during lactation, feeding trials of bifidobacteria in lactating mice were conducted. Bifidobacteria appeared in feces at 9.67+/-0.17 log 10 number per gram levels. All bifidobacteria found in the feces were the administered strain. Mice fed bifidobacteria for 12 days showed significantly high levels of fecal total IgA compared to that of the control group (P < 0.05). The levels of anti-beta-lactoglobulin IgA in milk as well as in fecal extracts were significantly higher in the bifidobacteria-fed group than that of the control group (P < 0.05). These results suggest that the intake of bifidobacteria can enhance local production of IgA in milk and the intestine, which may help to protect both pups and dams from exposure to food antigens.     

Code OK3 - An upgraded version of OK2 with beam wobbling function

For computer simulations on heavy ion beam (HIB) irradiation onto a target with an arbitrary shape and structure in heavy ion fusion (HIF), the code OK2 was developed and presented in Computer Physics Communications 161 (2004). Code OK3 is an upgrade of OK2 including an important capability of wobbling beam illumination. The wobbling beam introduces a unique possibility for a smooth mechanism of inertial fusion target implosion, so that sufficient fusion energy is released to construct a fusion reactor in future.

New version program summary

Program title: OK3Catalogue identifier: ADST_v3_0Program summary URL:http://cpc.cs.qub.ac.uk/summaries/ADST_v3_0.htmlProgram obtainable from: CPC Program Library, Queen's University, Belfast, N. IrelandLicensing provisions: Standard CPC licence, http://cpc.cs.qub.ac.uk/licence/licence.htmlNo. of lines in distributed program, including test data, etc.: 221 517No. of bytes in distributed program, including test data, etc.: 2 471 015Distribution format: tar.gzProgramming language: C++Computer: PC (Pentium 4, 1 GHz or more recommended)Operating system: Windows or UNIXRAM: 2048 MBytesClassification: 19.7Catalogue identifier of previous version: ADST_v2_0Journal reference of previous version: Comput. Phys. Comm. 161 (2004) 143Does the new version supersede the previous version?: YesNature of problem: In heavy ion fusion (HIF), ion cancer therapy, material processing, etc., a precise beam energy deposition is essentially important [1]. Codes OK1 and OK2 have been developed to simulate the heavy ion beam energy deposition in three-dimensional arbitrary shaped targets [2, 3]. Wobbling beam illumination is important to smooth the beam energy deposition nonuniformity in HIF, so that a uniform target implosion is realized and a sufficient fusion output energy is released.Solution method: OK3 code works on the base of OK1 and OK2 [2, 3]. The code simulates a multi-beam illumination on a target with arbitrary shape and structure, including beam wobbling function.Reasons for new version: The code OK3 is based on OK2 [3] and uses the same algorithm with some improvements, the most important one is the beam wobbling function.Summary of revisions:

1.

In the code OK3, beams are subdivided on many bunches. The displacement of each bunch center from the initial beam direction is calculated.

2.

Code OK3 allows the beamlet number to vary from bunch to bunch. That reduces the calculation error especially in case of very complicated mesh structure with big internal holes.

3.

The target temperature rises during the time of energy deposition.

4.

Some procedures are improved to perform faster.

5.

The energy conservation is checked up on each step of calculation process and corrected if necessary.

New procedures included in OK3

1.

Procedure BeamCenterRot( ) rotates the beam axis around the impinging direction of each beam.

2.

Procedure BeamletRot( ) rotates the beamlet axes that belong to each beam.

3.

Procedure Rotation( ) sets the coordinates of rotated beams and beamlets in chamber and pellet systems.

4.

Procedure BeamletOut( ) calculates the lost energy of ions that have not impinged on the target.

5.

Procedure TargetT( ) sets the temperature of the target layer of energy deposition during the irradiation process.

6.

Procedure ECL( ) checks up the energy conservation law at each step of the energy deposition process.

7.

Procedure ECLt( ) performs the final check up of the energy conservation law at the end of deposition process.

Modified procedures in OK3

1.

Procedure InitBeam( ): This procedure initializes the beam radius and coefficients A1, A2, A3, A4 and A5 for Gauss distributed beams [2]. It is enlarged in OK3 and can set beams with radii from 1 to 20 mm.

2.

Procedure kBunch( ) is modified to allow beamlet number variation from bunch to bunch during the deposition.

3.

Procedure ijkSp( ) and procedure Hole( ) are modified to perform faster.

4.

Procedure Espl( ) and procedure ChechE( ) are modified to increase the calculation accuracy.

5.

Procedure SD( ) calculates the total relative root-mean-square (RMS) deviation and the total relative peak-to-valley (PTV) deviation in energy deposition non-uniformity. This procedure is not included in code OK2 because of its limited applications (for spherical targets only). It is taken from code OK1 and modified to perform with code OK3.

Running time: The execution time depends on the pellet mesh number and the number of beams in the simulated illumination as well as on the beam characteristics (beam radius on the pellet surface, beam subdivision, projectile particle energy and so on). In almost all of the practical running tests performed, the typical running time for one beam deposition is about 30 s on a PC with a CPU of Pentium 4, 2.4 GHz.References:

[1]

A.I. Ogoyski, et al., Heavy ion beam irradiation non-uniformity in inertial fusion, Phys. Lett. A 315 (2003) 372-377.

[2]

A.I. Ogoyski, et al., Code OK1 - Simulation of multi-beam irradiation on a spherical target in heavy ion fusion, Comput. Phys. Comm. 157 (2004) 160-172.

[3]

A.I. Ogoyski, et al., Code OK2 - A simulation code of ion-beam illumination on an arbitrary shape and structure target, Comput. Phys. Comm. 161 (2004) 143-150.

     

Prevalence and a drug use development model for the study of adolescent drug use in Japan

The purposes of this study were to estimate the prevalence of drug use, to examine the correlation between drug use and drinking/smoking in Japan, and to test a developmental model of adolescents' drug use based on three basic theories of deviance: Strain, Social control, and Differential association. The survey was conducted from April to May, 1996, in 14 public high schools in Tokyo, using anonymous self-reporting. A total of 4,171 (99.45%) students responded to our questionnaire. It included central concept items in the three deviant theories, beliefs about the ill effects of drugs, sex, grades, etc. The following findings were obtained: 1) Among the subjects, 255 students (6.1%) reported drug use within the past year. Of these drug users, 73.3% used drugs soon after being "tempted" by friends. Responding to "When was it.", as a first year junior high school was the most common first experience, and the next most common was during the sixth year of elementary school. 2) Drinking and smoking appeared to be gateway drugs for adolescents in Japan as has been shown in the United States. 3) Multiple regression and logistic multiple regression analyses suggested that differential association variables were far more powerful predictors of adolescent drinking, smoking and drug use than either the control or strain variables. Results provided modest support for the Differential Association Theory as an explanation of drug use. 4) LISREL's goodness-of-fit statistic indicated a much better fit between the model and the data. (CN: 282, GFI: 0.967, AGFI: 0.941). These findings show two processes by which adolescents become involved in drug use. Strain and Social Control do not directly affect drug use. However, Social Control is important because it works indirectly, through Differential Association resulting in drug use. Second, though weaker, Differential Association appears to lead to dangerous beliefs in drug use followed by actual drug use.     

Effect of noise on chaotic behavior in Roessler-type nonlinear system

The effects of noise on chaotic behaviors of a nonlinear dynamic model were described from a point of view of the system analysis and the previous studies associated with chaos and noise were reviewed as well. The quasi-white noise was used as the observation noise as well as the system noise to clarify the deterioration of the chaotic patterns of the Roessler model. The effects of the noise intensity on the chaotic signal were observed through the deformation of the attractors, increase of the correlation dimension, and change of the maximum Lyapunov exponent. It has been found that the deterioration of the chaotic patterns is more pronounced in the case of the observation noise than the system noise for the Roessler model. As an example of noisy time series data, the laser speckles time series data was employed and discussed from the point of view of the necessity of noise reduction and possible chaos extraction. © 1997 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.     

Suspension "hypokinesia/hypodynamia" may decrease bone mass by stimulating osteoclast production in ovariectomized mice

The factorial structure of the Beck Hopelessness Scale (BHS; A. T. Beck, A. Weissman, D. Lester, & L. Trexler, 1974) was examined in a nonclinical sample (N = 154) in Japan, and the relationships between dimensions of hopelessness and psychosocial variables were analyzed. A semistructured interview was used, as well as a questionnaire consisting of the BHS, the Eysenck Personality Questionnaire (EPQ; H. J. Eysenck & S. B. Eysenck, 1975), and the Parental Bonding Instrument (PBI; G. Parker, H. Tupling, & L. B. Brown, 1979). A factor analysis with principal components solution after oblimin rotation yielded 2 factors--Doubt About a Hopeful Future (Factor 1) and Belief About a Hopeless Future (Factor 2). Significant, positive correlations were found between Factor 2 and (a) the number of emotional symptoms of depression in a 4-day depressive episode and (b) scores on the Neuroticism subscale of the EPQ. The Factor 1 score was significantly and negatively correlated with the Extraversion subscale of the EPQ and the Paternal Care subscale of the PBI.     

Non-equilibrium local phase formation by high-speed deformation in NiTi

Materials responses under non-equilibrium conditions, especially in the state far-from-equilibrium, have been attracting great interest. Although of limited use, there are some tools available for investigating the phenomena, e.g. theoretical approaches such as non-equilibrium thermodynamics or atomistic computer simulation. The present study centers on high-resolution TEM of ordered NiTi specimens subjected to ultra-high-speed plastic deformation at Hiroshima Institute of Technology. Various local non-equilibrium nano-phases were observed to form due to high-speed deformation. Image analysis using high-resolution electron microscopy (HREM) simulation and the FFT technique revealed that those meta-stable phases in the Ni–Ti system were R-phases (Ni₄Ti₃), O-phases (Ni₃Ti₂) and amorphous phases. The current study also elaborates on the formation and nature of deformation-induced lattice invariant shear bands. Our results suggest that ultra-high-speed deformation is a promising tool to study the material responses in far-from-equilibrium states.