The technology for processing and analyzing tangential X-ray images of intervertebral disc spaces is advancing rapidly with the development of medical imaging information technology. However, ...geometric measurements of the intervertebral disc space angle and the tangential X-ray incident angle have not yet been evaluated. This study examined these using a lumbar spine phantom and an X-ray flat panel detector. Depiction of the intervertebral disc spaces on frontal images of the lumbar spine was visually evaluated and compared in terms of deviation of the tangential X-ray incident angle in order to reveal whether there was an effective tangential X-ray incident angle index to improve the depiction accuracy. Tangential X-ray incident angle deviation was in the range of 0° to ±9.0°, and images were examined in ±2.0° increments of angle deviation (5 classes in total). Evaluation of the intervertebral disc spaces and the cartilage end plates revealed extremely clear depiction of the disc spaces with tangential depiction with angle deviation of ±2.0° or less and clear depiction of the disc spaces with a thin oval appearance of the cartilage end plates with angle deviation of ±3.0°-4.0°. However, there was unclear depiction of the disc spaces with a slightly thick oval appearance of the cartilage end plates with angle deviation of ±5.0°-6.0°, unclear depiction of the disc spaces and the cartilage end plates with angle deviation of ±7.0°-8.0°, and inadequate quality for observation of both the disc spaces and the cartilage end plates with deviation of ±9.0° or more. Therefore, it is considered that the allowable deviation of the tangential X-ray incident angle needs to be ±5.0°-6.0° or less. Setting of the tangential X-ray incident angle to the intervertebral disc space by geometric measurement can be achieved easily and accurately by use of the flat panel detector and the image processing function. It can also be a new index for improving the accuracy of image depiction ability.
FLAG Review 2019 Aoki, S.; Aoki, Y.; Bečirević, D. ...
The European physical journal. C, Particles and fields,
02/2020, Volume:
80, Issue:
2
Journal Article
Peer reviewed
Open access
We review lattice results related to pion, kaon,
D
-meson,
B
-meson, and nucleon physics with the aim of making them easily accessible to the nuclear and particle physics communities. More ...specifically, we report on the determination of the light-quark masses, the form factor
f
+
(
0
)
arising in the semileptonic
K
→
π
transition at zero momentum transfer, as well as the decay constant ratio
f
K
/
f
π
and its consequences for the CKM matrix elements
V
us
and
V
ud
. Furthermore, we describe the results obtained on the lattice for some of the low-energy constants of
S
U
(
2
)
L
×
S
U
(
2
)
R
and
S
U
(
3
)
L
×
S
U
(
3
)
R
Chiral Perturbation Theory. We review the determination of the
B
K
parameter of neutral kaon mixing as well as the additional four
B
parameters that arise in theories of physics beyond the Standard Model. For the heavy-quark sector, we provide results for
m
c
and
m
b
as well as those for
D
- and
B
-meson decay constants, form factors, and mixing parameters. These are the heavy-quark quantities most relevant for the determination of CKM matrix elements and the global CKM unitarity-triangle fit. We review the status of lattice determinations of the strong coupling constant
α
s
. Finally, in this review we have added a new section reviewing results for nucleon matrix elements of the axial, scalar and tensor bilinears, both isovector and flavor diagonal.
We review lattice results related to pion, kaon,
D
- and
B
-meson physics with the aim of making them easily accessible to the particle-physics community. More specifically, we report on the ...determination of the light-quark masses, the form factor
f
+
(
0
)
, arising in the semileptonic
K
→
π
transition at zero momentum transfer, as well as the decay constant ratio
f
K
/
f
π
and its consequences for the CKM matrix elements
V
u
s
and
V
u
d
. Furthermore, we describe the results obtained on the lattice for some of the low-energy constants of
S
U
(
2
)
L
×
S
U
(
2
)
R
and
S
U
(
3
)
L
×
S
U
(
3
)
R
Chiral Perturbation Theory. We review the determination of the
B
K
parameter of neutral kaon mixing as well as the additional four
B
parameters that arise in theories of physics beyond the Standard Model. The latter quantities are an addition compared to the previous review. For the heavy-quark sector, we provide results for
m
c
and
m
b
(also new compared to the previous review), as well as those for
D
- and
B
-meson-decay constants, form factors, and mixing parameters. These are the heavy-quark quantities most relevant for the determination of CKM matrix elements and the global CKM unitarity-triangle fit. Finally, we review the status of lattice determinations of the strong coupling constant
α
s
.
Display omitted
•Glycerol is used as an electron and hydrogen source in a photocatalytic reaction in water.•Electrons extracted from glycerol are used for the hydrogenation of nitrobenzene.•No other ...products such as H2 are produced.•Among C3-alcohols and glycol, glycerol is the best electron and hydrogen source.•The hydrogenation proceeds under solar light even under a static condition.
The development of a new method for effective utilization of glycerol dissolved in water is needed. In this study, glycerol was used not as an energy source and a starting compound but as an electron and hydrogen source for photocatalytic hydrogenation of nitrobenzene in an aqueous suspension of TiO2 under various conditions. The function of glycerol as an electron and hydrogen source was compared with that of other C3-alcohols and glycols. The results showed that glycerol works most efficiently as an electron and hydrogen source and that electrons extracted from glycerol are directly used for the hydrogenation without formation of other products such as H2. The photocatalytic hydrogenation was also examined under solar light with and without stirring. Important factors for the electron and hydrogen source in the photocatalytic reaction in an aqueous medium are discussed on the basis of the results.
Data from breeding, including phenotypic information, may improve the efficiency of breeding. Historical data from breeding trials accumulated over a long time are also useful. Here, by organizing ...data accumulated in the National Agriculture and Food Research Organization (NARO) rice breeding program, we developed a historical phenotype dataset, which includes 6052 records obtained for 667 varieties in yield trials in 1991–2018 at six NARO research stations. The best linear unbiased predictions (BLUPs) and principal component analysis (PCA) were used to determine the relationships with various factors, including the year of cultivar release, for 15 traits, including yield. Yield-related traits such as the number of grains per panicle, plant weight, grain yield, and thousand-grain weight increased significantly with time, whereas the number of panicles decreased significantly. Ripening time significantly increased, whereas the lodging degree and protein content of brown rice significantly decreased. These results suggest that panicle-weight-type high-yielding varieties with excellent lodging resistance have been selected. These trends differed slightly among breeding locations, indicating that the main breeding objectives may differ among them. PCA revealed a higher diversity of traits in newer varieties.
Multicomponent supramolecular hydrogels are constructed for sensitive, naked-eye detection of small-molecule biomarkers. A dendritic self-immolative molecule and the corresponding enzyme as a signal ...amplification system were stably embedded in a hydrogen peroxide (H2O2)-responsive supramolecular hydrogel (BPmoc-F 3 ), together with other enzymes. The nanostructure and mechanical strength of the hybrid BPmoc-F 3 gel were not substantially diminished by incorporation of these multiple components in the absence of target biomarkers, but could be destroyed by addition of the biomarker through the multiple enzymatic and chemical cascade reactions operating in combination within the gel matrix. The sensitivity to biomarkers such as H2O2, glucose, and uric acid, detected by gel–sol transition, was significantly enhanced by the signal amplification system. An array chip consisting of these multicomponent hydrogels enabled the detection of the level of hyperuricemia disease in human plasma samples.
Soft materials that exhibit stimuli-responsive behaviour under aqueous conditions (such as supramolecular hydrogels composed of self-assembled nanofibres) have many potential biological applications. ...However, designing a macroscopic response to structurally complex biochemical stimuli in these materials still remains a challenge. Here we show that redox-responsive peptide-based hydrogels have the ability to encapsulate enzymes and still retain their activities. Moreover, cooperative coupling of enzymatic reactions with the gel response enables us to construct unique stimuli-responsive soft materials capable of sensing a variety of disease-related biomarkers. The programmable gel-sol response (even to biological samples) is visible to the naked eye. Furthermore, we built Boolean logic gates (OR and AND) into the hydrogel-enzyme hybrid materials, which were able to sense simultaneously plural specific biochemicals and execute a controlled drug release in accordance with the logic operation. The intelligent soft materials that we have developed may prove valuable in future medical diagnostics or treatments.
The JRA-25 Reanalysis ONOGI, Kazutoshi; TSUTSUI, Junichi; KOIDE, Hiroshi ...
Journal of the Meteorological Society of Japan,
06/2007, Volume:
85, Issue:
3
Journal Article
Peer reviewed
Open access
A long-term global atmospheric reanalysis, named “Japanese 25-year Reanalysis (JRA-25)” was completed using the Japan Meteorological Agency (JMA) numerical assimilation and forecast system. The ...analysis covers the period from 1979 to 2004. This is the first long-term reanalysis undertaken in Asia. JMA's latest numerical assimilation system, and specially collected observational data, were used to generate a consistent and high-quality reanalysis dataset designed for climate research and operational monitoring and forecasts. One of the many purposes of JRA-25 is to enhance the analysis to a high quality in the Asian region. Six-hourly data assimilation cycles were performed, producing 6-hourly atmospheric analysis and forecast fields of various physical variables. The global model used in JRA-25 has a spectral resolution of T106 (equivalent to a horizontal grid size of around 120 km) and 40 vertical layers with the top level at 0.4 hPa. In addition to conventional surface and upper air observations, atmospheric motion vector (AMV) wind retrieved from geostationary satellites, brightness temperature from TIROS Operational Vertical Sounder (TOVS), precipitable water retrieved from orbital satellite microwave radiometer radiance and other satellite data are assimilated with three-dimensional variational method (3D-Var). JMA produced daily sea surface temperature (SST), sea ice and three-dimensional ozone profiles for JRA-25. A new quality control method for TOVS data was developed and applied in advance. Many advantages have been found in the JRA-25 reanalysis. Predicted 6-hour global total precipitation distribution and amount are well reproduced both in space and time. The performance of the long time series of the global precipitation is the best among the other reanalyses, with few unrealistic variations from degraded satellite data contaminated by volcanic eruptions. Secondly, JRA-25 is the first reanalysis to assimilate wind profiles around tropical cyclones reconstructed from historical best track information; tropical cyclones were analyzed properly in all the global regions. Additionally, low-level cloud along the subtropical western coast of continents is well simulated and snow depth analysis is also of a good quality. The article also covers material which requires attention when using JRA-25.
Biochemical diversity of venom extracts often occurs within a small number of shared protein families. Developing a sequestrant capable of broad-spectrum neutralization across various protein ...isoforms within these protein families is a necessary step in creating broad-spectrum antivenom. Using directed synthetic evolution to optimize a nanoparticle (NP) formulation capable of sequestering and neutralizing venomous phospholipase A2 (PLA2), we demonstrate that broad-spectrum neutralization and sequestration of venomous biomacromolecules is possible via a single optimized NP formulation. Furthermore, this optimized NP showed selectivity for venomous PLA2 over abundant serum proteins, was not cytotoxic, and showed substantially long dissociation rates from PLA2. These findings suggest that it may show efficacy as an in vivo venom sequestrant and may serve as a generalized lipid-mediated toxin sequestrant.
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