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This study investigates the problem of distributed state estimation. A distributed Kalman filter algorithm is proposed, in which sensors exchange their innovations. A detailed analysis is conducted for the case of two sensor networks, demonstrating that the proposed algorithm outperforms the case where each sensor runs a conventional Kalman filter without communication. The upper bounds of error covariance matrices are also derived in the case of packet loss. Numerical examples verify the effectiveness of the proposed algorithm. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We present a novel approach that employs nonlinear model predictive control (NMPC) to address flock control while incorporating obstacle avoidance within a leader-follower framework. This strategy utilises each agent's predictive capabilities to navigate effectively. Building upon Reynolds' foundational flocking principles of cohesion, separation, and alignment, we adapt them to serve a navigation objective rather than focusing solely on formation tasks. In doing so, we introduce novel concepts that enhance our approach's robustness and flexibility. These concepts include the assessment of information credibility and significance received from neighbouring agents, along with the dynamic adjustment of trade-offs between reference values. We incorporate these features into our NMPC formulation and illustrate their advantages through numerical simulations and laboratory experiments. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We phenomenologically calculate the performance of the recently observed Seebeck-driven transverse thermoelectric generation (STTG) for various systems in terms of the thermopower, power factor, and figure of merit to demonstrate the usefulness of STTG. The STTG system consists of a closed circuit comprising thermoelectric and magnetic materials which exhibit the Seebeck and anomalous Hall effects, respectively. When a temperature gradient is applied to the hybrid system, the Seebeck effect in the thermoelectric material layer generates a longitudinal charge current in the closed circuit, and the charge current subsequently drives the anomalous Hall effect in the magnetic material layer. The anomalous Hall voltage driven by the Seebeck effect has a similar symmetry to the transverse thermoelectric conversion based on the anomalous Nernst effect. We find that the thermoelectric properties of STTG can be much better than those of the anomalous Nernst effect by increasing the Seebeck coefficient and anomalous Hall angle of the thermoelectric and magnetic materials, respectively, as well as by optimizing their dimensions. We also formulate the electronic cooling performance in the STTG system, thereby confirming the reciprocal relation for the hybrid transverse thermoelectric conversion. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study examines hypoeutectic 24%Cr cast iron and eutectic 27%Cr cast iron that have the same Cr/C ratio to investigate the relationship between wear resistance and microstructure of as-cast and heat-treated materials under harsh erosion test conditions. Microstructural observation revealed that unlike 27%Cr cast iron, part of the matrix of 24%Cr cast iron formed as lamellar pearlite during cooling after solidification. For the annealing condition, the matrix of both cast irons completely transformed to a granular pearlite. When quenching was performed at two temperatures, the amount of retained austenite increased at the higher temperature. From the results of the wear behavior and surface hardening of both cast irons, it was found that the effect of matrix structure on wear resistance is more significant than that of eutectic carbides. The wear rate of hypoeutectic and eutectic high Cr cast irons depends on the degree of work hardening. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The effect of the combined addition of molybdenum (Mo) and tungsten (W) on the behavior of continuous cooling transformation (CCT) for 16%Cr cast iron was investigated. In the CCT diagrams, pearlite (P), bainite (B), and martensite (M) transformations appeared in each specimen regardless of Mo and W contents except for a specimen with small amount of Mo and W in which the B transformations did not occur. The nose time of both transformations was postponed as the Mo and W contents increased. When the effects of the combined addition of Mo and W on each transformation were evaluated using a parameter of tungsten equivalent (Weq=%W+2x%Mo) of the specimen, the nose time of P transformation was delayed with an increase in the Weq value, regardless of the combined or single addition of both elements. The nose time was also sifted to longtime side when the austenitizing temperature rose to 1050 ºC. The nose time of B transformation showed the same tendency as that of P transformation. However, the delaying degree of B nose time toward a rise of Weq value was small compared with that of P nose time. The Ms temperature rose with increasing the Weq value, but it dropped about 50 ºC by elevating austenitizing temperature to1050 ºC. It is in actual fact that the transformation behavior is related to the concentration of alloying elements in the matrix. Therefore, the Weq value in the matrix (Weq-mat) at each austenitizing temperature was calculated and the relations of the P and B nose times versus their Weq-mat value were obtained. The relations are expressed by the following equations, regardless of the austenitizing temperature.tP-ns=856.7exp(0.8×Weq-mat)\documentclass[12pt]{minimal}\usepackage{amsmath}\usepackage{wasysym}\usepackage{amsfonts}\usepackage{amssymb}\usepackage{amsbsy}\usepackage{mathrsfs}\usepackage{upgreek}\setlength{\oddsidemargin}{-69pt}\begin{document}$${t}_{\text{P}-\text{n}}\left(s\right)=856.7\text{exp}(0.8\times {W}_{\text{eq}-\text{mat}})$$\end{document}tB-ns=3714.9exp(0.07×Weq-mat)\documentclass[12pt]{minimal}\usepackage{amsmath}\usepackage{wasysym}\usepackage{amsfonts}\usepackage{amssymb}\usepackage{amsbsy}\usepackage{mathrsfs}\usepackage{upgreek}\setlength{\oddsidemargin}{-69pt}\begin{document}$${t}_{\text{B}-\text{n}}\left(s\right)=3714.9\text{exp}(0.07\times {W}_{\text{eq}-\text{mat}})$$\end{document}The hardness of transformed cast iron is closely connected to the matrix microstructures identified by the CCT diagram. The highest hardness (HVmax) can be estimated from the values of Weq-mat and matrix C at each austenitizing temperature. The HVmax decreases with an increase in Weq-mat value, irrespectively of the austenitizing temperature. As the matrix C content increases, the hardness rises first to the maximum and then lowers. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this study, we propose a novel tailsitter unmanned aerial vehicle with configurable wings using a parallel link mechanism. It has two flight modes: a hover mode and a forward flight mode by pitching, similar to conventional tailsitters. In addition, it can deform its airframe in each flight mode. In the hover mode, it can tilt the frame in the pitch direction while hovering. In the forward flight mode, it can change the configuration of the wings during forward flight. In experiments, we show that it can transition from the hover mode to the forward flight mode with three wing configurations: non-staggered wings (biplane) and positively and negatively staggered wings (tandem wing plane), using an attitude controller for conventional quadrotors. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study aimed to investigate the clinical characteristics of pediatric-onset dystonia in Japan, addressing the diagnostic challenges arising from symptom variations and etiological diversity. From 2020 to 2022, questionnaires were distributed to 1218 board certified child neurologists (BCCNs) by Japanese Society of Child Neurology. In the primary survey, participants were asked to report the number of patients with pediatric-onset dystonia under their care. Subsequently, the follow-up secondary survey sought additional information on the clinical characteristics of these patients. The primary survey obtained 550 responses (response rate: 45 %) from BCCNs for their 736 patients with dystonia. The predominant etiologies included inherited cases (with DYT10 being the most prevalent, followed by DYT5 and ATP1A3 -related neurologic disorders), acquired cases (with perinatal abnormalities being the most common), and idiopathic cases. The secondary survey provided clinical insights into 308 cases from 82 BCCNs. Infancy-onset dystonia presented as persistent and generalized with diverse symptoms, primarily linked to ATP1A3 -related neurologic disorders and other genetic disorders resembling acquired dystonia. Conversely, childhood/adolescent-onset dystonia showed paroxysmal, fluctuating courses, predominantly affecting limbs. The most common etiologies were DYT5 and DYT10 , leading to therapeutic diagnoses. Pediatric-onset dystonia in Japan was treated by 28 % of BCCNs. The majority of cases were inherited, with high prevalence rates of DYT5 and DYT10 . Infancy-onset dystonia exhibits diverse etiologies and symptoms, emphasizing the utility of various examinations, including genetic testing. These findings significantly contribute to our understanding of pediatric-onset dystonia in Japan, although this study has the limitation of questionnaire survey. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The relationship between the as-cast microstructure and erosive wear resistance of 26%Cr cast iron manufactured by investment casting was investigated in this study. Four samples were prepared by using two different shell mold temperatures and two different pouring temperatures. The delayed onset of solidification due to high shell mold temperature is more remarkable than that due to high pouring temperature. In two samples of hot-molds, it was found that the slower cooling rate results in coarsening of primary carbide cells and the formation of bainite in matrix. A relative comparison of erosive wear resistance among four samples revealed that bainite accelerates the wear rate under severe erosive wear conditions. Little effect of fine carbides on the erosive wear resistance was found. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this research, the effect of tungsten equivalent (Weq) on hardness and volume fraction of retained austenite (Vγ) of heat-treated semi-multi-alloyed white cast irons was investigated. Cast irons with 5.0 to 6.6%Weq under 2%C, 3%Cr, 1%W and 5%V were prepared. After annealing, the test specimens were hardened from austenitizing temperatures at 1050 °C and 1100 °C by fan air cooling. The tempering was carried out between 400 and 600 °C. In as-hardened state, the hardness dropped progressively as the Weq rose. High austenitizing temperature provided low hardness. The Vγ increased continuously as the Weq increased, and more Vγ was obtained by hardening from 1100 °C. In tempered state, the hardness curves showed an evident secondary hardening due to the precipitation of secondary carbides and the transformation of retained austenite to martensite. The degree of secondary hardening increased with a rise of Weq value and austenitizing temperature. The maximum tempered hardness (HTmax) was obtained by tempering at 500 °C in all the specimens regardless of austenitizing temperature. The highest values of HTmax, 830 HV30, was obtained in the specimen with 5.0%Weq hardened from 1100 °C. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Multi-component white cast irons in which microstructures consist of multiple types of hard eutectic carbides embedded in a strong matrix have been developed for hot work roll materials. Their hard eutectic carbides contribute to improving the abrasive wear resistance of roll materials. The basic alloy composition is 5 wt% of Cr, Mo, W, V each and 2 wt% of C and Co. In this work, the effect of V content on heat treatment behavior of multi-component white cast irons with basic alloy composition was investigated. The V content of prepared cast irons varied from 2.01 to 6.64 wt%. After annealing, the specimens were hardened from 1050 °C and 1100 °C by fan air cooling and subsequently tempered between 350 and 600 °C. The results indicated that regardless of austenitizing temperature, the hardness in the as-hardened state increased to the maximum value and then decreased as V content rose. The volume fraction of retained austenite in the as-hardened state (Vγ-As) decreased greatly with a rise of V content at both austenitizing temperatures. In the tempered state, the hardness curves showed secondary hardening due to the precipitation of carbides and the transformation of decomposed austenite to martensite. The Vγ value began to decrease greatly at 450-500 °C tempering and then decreased gradually as the tempering temperature was elevated. The maximum tempered hardness (HTmax) was obtained in each specimen tempered between 500 and 520 °C for 1050 °C and 500–600 °C for 1100 °C austenitizing where the Vγ ranged from 1 to 15%. The highest HTmax, values near 1000 HV30 were obtained at 4 wt%V for 1050 °C and 5 wt%V for 1100 °C austenitizing, respectively. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Publisher's Note: "Phenomenological analysis of transverse thermoelectric generation and cooling performance in magnetic/thermoelectric hybrid systems" [J. Appl. Phys. This article was originally published online on 10 June 2021 with an error in Eq. (15) and the text directly below it. All online versions of the article were corrected on 18 June 2021. [Extracted from the article]

Vibration effects on grain refinement in aluminum alloy were investigated by mechanically vibrating metal mold during solidification. Results show that both the frequency and the half amplitude affected the grain refinement, decreasing the average grain size. We hypothesized that the average grain size can be estimated from the excitation force consolidating them. To clarify grain refinement mechanisms, experiments were conducted with different vibration starting times and different vibration periods. Moreover, a water model experiment was conducted using ammonium chloride solution. Both the equiaxed grain size and the columnar grain length were reduced by mold vibration before pouring, irrespective of the vibration period. However, when the mold was vibrated at 15 s after pouring, the columnar grain length increased. Moreover, the equiaxed grain size increased greatly. Water model experiments showed that a vibrated mold made of polycarbonate and aluminum alloy produced many crystals near the mold wall and filled the mold by vibration and induced convection. These results clarified that starting vibration before solidification is important for grain refinement. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article presents a case study of the case of a 10-year-old girl who developed Kawasaki disease shock syndrome (KDSS) with multiple organ dysfunction. Topics include how the previously healthy 10-year-old Japanese girl developed fever, vomiting, diarrhoea, and bilateral cervical lymphadenitis and how compared with KD patients without shock, KDSS tends to occur in older children.

This work proposes a scalable method for a large-scale fully coupled annealing processing system that utilizes multi-chip operation in parallel to solve the combinatorial optimization problems facing a wide range of applications. We previously proposed an architecture for the LSI implementation of a fully coupled annealing processor that updates the value of spin based on an energy calculated using a one-dimensional spin array and a two-dimensional spin-to-spin interaction array. In the present work, expanding this method, we proposed a new method of dividing the energy and calculating it on several identical first chips and then taking the sum of them on a second chip to obtain the updated spin value. The amount of data communication between the first and second chips is quite small with only 4 pins used for chip connection each. This enables us to create a fully coupled annealing processing system with a scalable number of spins. The results of an FPGA demonstration confirmed that these small amounts of communication by multi-chip operation were possible while operating as a fully coupled system. In the demonstration, a 384-spin fully coupled annealing processing system board was implemented using 16 first FPGA chips and one second FPGA chip. The current consumption of the entire system board was 950 mA when idling and 1050 mA when running fully coupled annealing processing at 10 MHz. The results also showed that a 92-node graph coloring problem and 384-node max-cut problem could be solved by using this system. For the max-cut problem, our system board was 584 times faster and 46 times more energy efficient than a 4-GHz CPU PC when solving the same problem. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Mesoscopic thermoelectric heat engine is much anticipated as a device that allows us to utilize with high efficiency wasted heat inaccessible by conventional heat engines. However, the derivation of the heat current in this engine seems to be either not general or described too briefly, even inappropriately in some cases. In this paper, we give a clear-cut derivation of the heat current of the engine with suitable assumptions beyond the linear-response regime. It resolves the confusion in the definition of the heat current in the linear-response regime. After verifying that we can construct the same formalism as that of the cyclic engine, we find the following two interesting results within the Landauer-Biittiker formalism: the efficiency of the mesoscopic thermoelectric engine reaches the Carnot efficiency if and only if the transmission probability is finite at a specific energy and zero otherwise; the unitarity of the transmission probability guarantees the second law of thermodynamics, invalidating Benenti et al.'s argument in the linear-response regime that one could obtain a finite power with the Carnot efficiency under a broken time-reversal symmetry [Phys. Rev. Lett. 106, 230602 (2011)]. These results demonstrate how quantum mechanics constrains thermodynamics. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: A strong electron–phonon coupling effect, referred to as electron–molecular vibration (e–mv) coupling, induces characteristic vibronic signals in the vibrational spectra of organic conductors. This paper discusses a new spectroscopic signal induced by the e–mv coupling effect, and the physical implications of its emergence. This vibronic signal, attributable to an overtone of a molecular vibration, appears with an anti-resonance form in the infrared spectrum of some mixed-valency complexes when the compounds undergo a charge-ordering transition. Based on the results of cluster model calculations, the activation of the overtone signal is interpreted as an indication of the generation of anharmonicity in the electronic potential. This analysis suggests that the series of the complexes should possess potential nonlinear optical abilities, though these compounds have long been viewed as electric conductors having the opposite characteristics of dielectrics that show nonlinear optical properties. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Low temperature measurements of optical second-harmonic generation (SHG) were performed for organic conductors showing ferroelectric charge ordering. To avoid the heating due to focused laser beam without applying mechanical stress to the samples, the organic crystals were mounted in liquid argon heat-transfer medium. The noble gas was sealed in a diamond-anvil cell type pressure cell, though the pressure was regulated around ambient level. The technique of the low temperature nonlinear optical microscopy is presented. (© 2012 WILEY-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim) [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A dip-shaped anomaly appearing in the infrared spectrum of charge-transfer organic complexes has been investigated. The anomaly appears at approximately the same frequency (~2700 cm-1), irrespective of light polarization as well as a composition of the complex, when the compounds undergo charge ordering. Isotope-shift measurements for θ-(BEDT-TITF)2RbZn(SCN)4 [BEDT-TI'F = bis(ethylenedithio)tetrathiafulvalene] indicates a relationship between the overtone of a C=C stretching mode of the BEDT-TTF molecule and this anomalous signal. Calculations of electron-molecular vibration coupling based on a diatomic molecular dimer model reveals that the overtone is activated by an anharmonicity developed in the adiabatic potential in a charge-separated system. It is presented that numerical calculation based on the simple cluster model reproduces essential features of the experimentally obtained conductivity spectrum. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The feasibility of later-generation hybrid production in ferns has not been previously studied, although it is a significant factor in relation to reproductive isolation. Osmunda × intermedia, a hybrid between O. japonica and O. lancea, is semifertile and has moderate spore germination rates. Under the artificial conditions of this study, F2 and F3 offspring were formed. Some of the F2 offspring showed precocity, and some of the F3 offspring also showed precocity. This fertility suggests that introgressive hybridization might be ongoing in nature. This also indicates a currently unknown genetic control over the timing of fertile frond production in Osmunda. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We previously reported that ventilatory response at the onset of light leg exercise was augmented in delayed onset muscle soreness (DOMS) after eccentric exercise (ECC) utilizing the leg. In this study, we examined whether the same result would appear in light exercise in which an arm with DOMS was utilized. Eleven subjects performed ECC using one arm, and we measured ventilatory responses to a 20-s single-arm extension-flexion exercise and to passive movement (PAS) before and 2 days after ECC (D2). We found that ventilatory response to both the exercise and PAS in which all subjects perceived DOMS was augmented at D2. It was concluded that initial hyperpnea, which occurred during arm exercise in DOMS, was enhanced, and from examining the result of PAS, enhanced initial exercise hyperpnea may be due in part to an exaggerated peripheral neural reflex. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: It is well known that activating protein-1 (AP-1) is involved in a variety of cellular functions such as proliferation, differentiation, apoptosis, and oncogenesis. AP-1 is a dimer complex consisting of different subunits, and c-Jun is known to be one of its major components. In addition, it has been shown that mice lacking c-Jun are embryonic lethal and that c-Jun is essential for liver and heart development. However, the role of c-Jun in the pancreas is not well known. The aim of this study was to examine the possible role of c-Jun in the pancreas. First, c-Jun was strongly expressed in pancreatic duct-like structures at an embryonic stage, while a lower level of expression was observed in some part of the adult pancreas, implying that c-Jun might play a role during pancreas development. Second, to address this point, we generated pancreas-specific c-Jun knock-out mice (Ptf1a-Cre; c-Junflox/flox mice) by crossing Ptf1a-Cre knock-in mice with c-Jun floxed mice. Ptf1a is a pancreatic transcription factor and its expression is confined to pancreatic stem/progenitor cells, which give rise to all three types of pancreatic tissue: endocrine, exocrine, and duct. Contrary to our expectation, however, there was no morphological difference in the pancreas between Ptf1a-Cre; c-Junflox/flox and control mice. In addition, there was no difference in body weight, pancreas weight, and the expression of various pancreas-related factors (insulin, glucagon, cytokeratin, and amylase) between the two groups. Furthermore, there was no difference in glucose tolerance between Ptf1a-Cre; c-Junflox/flox and control mice. Taken together, although we cannot exclude the possibility that c-Jun ablation is compensated by some unknown factors, c-Jun appears to be dispensable for pancreas development at least after ptf1a gene promoter is activated. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

We compared the ventilatory and circulatory responses during 20 s of light dynamic leg and arm exercises performed separately using dominant and non-dominant limbs. Seventeen subjects performed a 20-s single-leg knee extension-flexion exercise with a load of 5% of maximal muscle strength attached to the ankle. Fifteen of the seventeen subjects also did a single-arm elbow flexion-extension exercise in which a load was attached to the wrist in the same way as in the leg exercise. Similar movements were passively performed on the subjects by experimenters to avoid the effects of central command. The magnitude of change from rest (gain) in minute ventilation during passive movement (PAS) was significantly smaller in the dominant limbs than in the non-dominant limbs, though a significant difference was not detected during voluntary exercise (VOL). In contrast, heart rate and blood pressure responses did not show any differences between the dominant and non-dominant limbs during either VOL or PAS. In conclusion, the initial ventilatory response to PAS in the dominant limbs was lower than that of the non-dominant limbs, though the ventilatory response to VOL was not. Circulatory responses were not different between the dominant and non-dominant limbs. These results suggest that peripheral neural reflex during exercise could be different between dominant and non-dominant limbs and that ventilatory response at the onset of exercise might be controlled by the dual neural modulation of central command and peripheral neural reflex, resulting in the same ventilatory response to both dominant and non-dominant limb exercise. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Since biomedical texts contain a wide variety of domain specific terms, building a large dictionary to perform term matching is of great relevance. However, due to the existence of null boundary between adjacent terms, this matching is not a trivial problem. Moreover, it is known that generative words cannot be comprehensively included in a dictionary because their possible variations are infinite. In this study, we report our approach to dictionary building and term matching in biomedical texts. Large amount of terms with/without part-of-speech (POS) and/or category information were gathered, and a completion program generated ∼1.36 million term variants to avoid stemming problems when matching terms. The dictionary was stored in a relational database management system (RDBMS) for quick lookup, and used by a matching program. Since the matching operation is not restricted to a substring surrounded by space characters, we can avoid the problem of null boundaries. This feature is also useful for generative words. Experimental results on GENIA corpus are promising: nearly half of the possible terms were correctly recognized as a meaningful segment, and most of the remaining half could be correctly recognized by some post-processing process, like chunking and further decomposition. It should be remarked that although we have not used term cost, connectivity cost, or syntactic information, reasonable segmentation and dictionary lookup were performed in most cases. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Raman and infrared conductivity spectra are investigated to reveal two-dimensional patterns of stripe charge-ordering in θ-(BEDT-TTF) 2 RbZn(SCN) 4 and α′-(BEDT-TTF) 2 IBr 2 . Either compounds exhibit similar multiple peak pattern around the C=C stretching region in both Raman and infrared spectra owing to the electron-molecular vibration coupling and charge disproportionation. We discuss the spatial symmetry of the charge-ordering stripes from the group theoretical arguments on the selection rule of these peaks. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Raman and infrared conductivity spectra are investigated to reveal two-dimensional patterns of stripe charge-ordering in θ-(BEDT-TTF) 2 RbZn(SCN) 4 and α′-(BEDT-TTF) 2 IBr 2 . Either compounds exhibit similar multiple peak pattern around the C=C stretching region in both Raman and infrared spectra owing to the electron-molecular vibration coupling and charge disproportionation. We discuss the spatial symmetry of the charge-ordering stripes from the group theoretical arguments on the selection rule of these peaks. charge ordering α-modification θ-modification BEDT-TTF Raman vibrational spectroscopy [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A 20-event, 7-point scale on the stressfulness of selected unpleasant experiences was administered to 364 children in Grades 4 to 6 in an American intermediate school. Independently, a parallel questionnaire was given to their parents to indicate (a) how upsetting they would find each event themselves, (b) what they estimate their own children's ratings to be, and (c) whether they think their children have actually experienced each event. The parent-child agreements among the 239 responding pairs were quite close on (1) the scale values (the median upsettingness ratings) with an r of .96, (2) the discriminal dispersions (the interquartile ranges of ratings) with an r of .79, and (3) the incidences with an r of .96. The striking contrasts with the earlier comparisons with professional judgements invite a reassessment of parents as dependable observer-reporters. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Discusses the importance of mentoring in the professional and personal growth of teachers. Value in improving the quality of the teaching profession; Definitions of mentoring; Paradox of mentorship.

We studied the metaphorical images held by educated, young to middle-aged respondents in the U.S., Canada, and China for the concepts of "life," "being a child," "school," "being a teacher," and "the universe." Both structured format and open format responses were found to show a reasonable level of stability over a period of 1 to 2 1/2 months. Whereas the open format predictably revealed more diverse responses than the structured format, two or three central images were readily discernible in both cases for each of the principal concepts under consideration. The specific themes appeared to be open to variations as a result of the respondent's sociocultural, cohort, and individualistic life contexts. The findings suggest that further inquiries may be able to identify prevailing metaphors and unravel their hidden yet powerful influence on human reasoning, feeling, and action. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A 20-event, 7-point scale on the stressfulness of selected unpleasant experiences was administered to 1814 children in Australia, Canada, Egypt. Japan, the Philippines, and the U.S.A. (two groups). Responses indicated the, among these 3rd through 9th graders, there is a remarkable degree of agreement not only in the stress ratings but also in the reported incidences of life events. Granted certain cultural contrasts. the overall findings gave credence to the presence of widespread, common perceptions and attitudes among children. The worlds of the young and of the grown-ups may overlap with each other much less than usually believed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Summary What follows is a narrative of the mistakes I have been making in understanding what inquiry into human affairs ought to be. Basically, all the trouble seems to stem from my underestimating what human beings are and can be [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Presents research information on stressful events in the lives of children in South Africa, Iceland, Poland, Australia and the United Kingdom. Events ratings; Widespread culture of children; Adults and children misunderstanding of each other; Study methods, References.

Presents information on a study on the social distance of differing ethno-racial groups. Methodology used in the study; Contrast of anchor descriptions; Social distance means and ranks; Limitations of the study.

The authors interviewed 71 retained elementary students and their teachers about their views on academic retention. The findings indicate that many of our concerns about school retention are well justified. Grade retention seems to be of dubious effectiveness as an answer to low pupil achievement and motivation and is often internalized by the children as a negative and confusing experience. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A substantive review of some of the recent validation studies in the area of creative thinking suggested that (a) investigators have not come to an agreement as to the most meaningful and practical immediate criteria of creative thinking; (b) every one of the easily obtainable measures including school grades, supervisor and teacher ratings, peer nominations, production records, and psychiatric diagnosis, has shortcomings as a suitable criterion; and (c) more validation studies are urgently needed to establish both empirical and conceptual validities of the current instruments. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article focuses on the research literature of creative thinking. The study poses some problems and possibilities in creative thinking. According to the author, it is important for a researcher to clearly define his term for creativity and to deduce his hypotheses from the definition. The study defines creative thinking as the process of forming new ideas or hypotheses, testing these hypotheses and communicating the results. Several assumptions on the abilities involved in being creative are presented. The author stresses the importance of examining school environment to determine the development of creative thinking abilities of students.

The organic conductor α-[bis(ethylenedithio)tetrathiafulvalene]2I3 undergoes a ferroelectric transition due to the Wigner-crystal-like charge ordering. The present paper reports the direct observation of 180° polar domains growing in the ferroelectric phase by means of optical second-harmonic generation interferometry. Mapping observation of the nonlinear optical interference revealed the development of large polar domains, illustrating a strong tendency of single-domain growth in the ferroelectric compound. The domain structures were varied when the crystal was annealed above the transition temperature and recooled into the ferroelectric phase. The variation indicates the mobile nature of the domains in the ferroelectric organic conductor. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Macrophages are versatile cells of the innate immune system that work by altering their pro- or anti-inflammatory features. Their dysregulation leads to inflammatory disorders such as inflammatory bowel disease. We show that macrophage-specific upregulation of the clock output gene and transcription factor E4BP4 reduces the severity of colitis in mice. RNA-sequencing and single-cell analyses of macrophages revealed that increased expression of E4BP4 leads to an overall increase in expression of anti-inflammatory genes including Il4ra with a concomitant reduction in pro-inflammatory gene expression. In contrast, knockout of E4BP4 in macrophages leads to increased proinflammatory gene expression and decreased expression of anti-inflammatory genes. ChIP-seq and ATAC-seq analyses further identified Il4ra as a target of E4BP4, which drives anti-inflammatory polarization in macrophages. Together, these results reveal a critical role for E4BP4 in regulating macrophage inflammatory phenotypes and resolving inflammatory bowel diseases. The authors show that the transcription factor E4BP4 mediates the production of anti-inflammatory components that reduce the magnitude of intestinal inflammation in mice. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This comment turns a critical eye on the popular dictum, “Think out of the box!” Given routinely as an end-all exhortation, this pronouncement misrepresents the true dynamics of creation, which is the dialectic process between the twin principles of origination and form. Referring to the relevant observations of many a creator in differing disciplines, I warn against the real danger of the originative potential being left as a mere promise without being fully realized into the culminating creation of worth. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Compares findings of a 1925 study of social distance with businessmen and teachers and a 1993 study with teachers, rating ethnic groups on the Bogardus Social Distance Scale, one of the earliest surveys on people's ethnic attitudes. Explanation for improvement of level of permissible intimacy for all involved groups; Physical features as signals for negative social attitudes.

The article presents a study on creativity and norm conformity in fifth grade exceptional children in the U.S. Two types of tasks, perception and information were constructed and each series of ten seven-choice tasks were administered to one-half the subjects. The experiment was done with the use of light switches. Researchers found that the task effects were significant in the two repeated measures analyses. The authors suggested that creative thinking as currently measured is not so close a correlate of social conformity.

In this study, we investigate the problem of finding energy-efficient routes for multiple drones conducting a surface-wave seismic survey. The survey utilizes one seismic source and multiple measurement points spread over a designated area. Each drone carries a seismometer, and is tasked with visiting pre-specified points to take measurements of seismic signals by resting idle on the ground for a set time. Due to this mandatory idling time, their energy consumption is not proportional to the flight distance, nor it is possible to apply standard path minimization algorithms. To address this issue, we establish an energy consumption model for each drone and propose algorithms to optimally allocate points to each drone and generate routes that minimize total energy consumption. The validity of these algorithms is discussed using numerical simulations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

It is well known that activating protein-1 (AP-1) is involved in a variety of cellular function such as proliferation, differentiation, apoptosis, and ontogenesis. While AP-1 is a dimmer complex consisting of different subunits, c-Jun is known as one of its major components. Also, it has been shown that mice lacking c-Jun are embryonic lethal and that c-Jun is essential for liver and heart development, but a role of c-Jun in pancreas is not well known. Pancreas has its embryological origin in two buds developing on the dorsal and ventral side of the duodenum. The ventral bud arises immediately adjacent to the hepatic diverticulum, and the dorsal bud arises on the opposite side of the gut tube. The aim of this study was to examine a possible role c-Jun in pancreas. First, c-Jun was strongly expressed in pancreatic duct-like structures at embryonic day15.5, while lower level expression was observed in some population of adult pancreas, implying that c-Jun might play some role during pancreas development. Second, to address this point, we generated pancreas-specific c-Jun knock-out mice (Ptf1a-Cre; c-Jun flox/flox mice) by crossing Ptf1a-Cre knock-in mice with e-Jun floxed mice. It is noted that Ptf1a is a transcription factor which expression is confined to pancreatic stem/progenitor cells, which give rise to all three types of pancreatic tissue: endocrine, exocrine, and duct. The deletion of c-Jun in Ptf1a-Cre c-Jun flox/flox pancreas was reconfirmed by immunohistochemistry at embryonic day 15.5 and RT-PCR at adult stage. Contrary to our expectation, however, there was no morphological difference in pancreas between Ptf1a-Cre; c-Jun flox/flox mice and control littermates. Also, there was no difference in body weight, pancreas weight, and insulin expression between two groups. Furthermore, to examine whether deletion of c-Jun influences glucose tolerance, we performed intraperitoneal glucose tolerance test, but there was no clear difference in glucose tolerance between Ptf1a-Cre; e-Jun flox/flox and control mice. These results indicate that c-Jun is dispensable for pancreas development at least after Ptf1a promoter is activated. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

On the basis of an excellent transistor material, [1]benzothieno[3,2-b][1]benzothiophene (BTBT), a series of highly conductive organic metals with the composition of (BTBT)2XF6 (X = P, As, Sb, and Ta) are prepared and the structural and physical properties are investigated. The room-temperature conductivity amounts to 4100 S cm-1 in the AsF6 salt, corresponding to the drift mobility of 16 cm2 V-1 s-1. Owing to the high conductivity, this salt shows a thermoelectric power factor of 55-88 μW K-2 m-1, which is a large value when this compound is regarded as an organic thermoelectric material. The thermoelectric power and the reflectance spectrum indicate a large bandwidth of 1.4 eV. These salts exhibit an abrupt resistivity jump under 200 K, which turns to an insulating state below 60 K. The paramagnetic spin susceptibility, and the Raman and the IR spectra suggest 4kF charge-density waves as an origin of the low-temperature insulating state. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The crystallization of a complex having electron transfer properties in a polar space group can induce the polarization switching of a crystal in a specific direction, which is attractive for the development of sensors, memory devices, and capacitors. Unfortunately, the probability of crystallization in a polar space group is usually low. Noticing that enantiopure compounds crystallize in Sohncke space groups, this paper reports a strategy for the molecular design of non‐ferroelectric polarization switching crystals based on the use of intramolecular electron transfer and chirality. In addition, this paper describes the synthesis of a mononuclear valence tautomeric (VT) cobalt complex bearing an enantiopure ligand. The introduction of enantiomer enables the crystallization of the complex in the polar space group (P21). The polarization of the crystals along the b‐axis direction is not canceled out and the VT transition is accompanied by a change in the macroscopic polarization of the polar crystal. Polarization switching via electron transfer is realized at around room temperature. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Aims/Introduction Understanding morning–evening variation in metabolic state is critical for managing metabolic disorders. We aimed to characterize this variation from the viewpoints of insulin secretion and insulin sensitivity, including their relevance to the circadian rhythm. Materials and Methods A total of 14 and 10 people without diabetes were enrolled, and underwent a 75‐g oral glucose tolerance test (OGTT) and hyperinsulinemic‐euglycemic clamp study, respectively. Participants completed the OGTT or hyperinsulinemic‐euglycemic clamp at 08.00 hours and 20.00 hours in random order. Before each study, hair follicles were collected. In mice, phosphorylation levels of protein kinase B were examined in the liver and muscle by western blotting. Results Glucose tolerance was better at 08.00 hours, which was explained by the higher 1‐h insulin secretion on OGTT and increased skeletal muscle insulin sensitivity on hyperinsulinemic‐euglycemic clamp. Hepatic insulin sensitivity, estimated by the hepatic insulin resistance index on OGTT, was better at 20.00 hours. The 1‐h insulin secretion and hepatic insulin resistance index correlated significantly with Per2 messenger ribonucleic acid expression. The change (evening value – morning value) in the glucose infusion rate correlated significantly with the change in non‐esterified fatty acid, but not with clock gene expressions. The change in non‐esterified fatty acid correlated significantly with E4bp4 messenger ribonucleic acid expression and the change in cortisol. In mice, phosphorylation of protein kinase B was decreased in the liver and increased in muscle in the beginning of the active period as, expected from the human study. Conclusions Glucose metabolism in each tissue differed between the morning and evening, partly reflecting lipid metabolism, clock genes and cortisol levels. Deeper knowledge of these associations might be useful for ameliorating metabolic disorders. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Organizing pneumonia (OP) is a complication of allogeneic hematopoietic stem cell transplantation (allo-HSCT) and a manifestation of peripheral airway/alveolar inflammation. Recently, alveolar nitric oxide concentration (Calv) has been revealed as a noninvasive marker of peripheral airway inflammation; however, whether Calv levels are associated with OP and peripheral airway in patients after allo-HSCT remains unclear. Herein, we evaluated whether Calv levels could reflect the presence of OP and structural airway changes in patients after allo-HSCT. We measured the eNO levels of 38 patients (6 with OP and 32 without OP) who underwent allo-HSCT. Three-dimensional computed tomography (CT) analysis of the airway was performed in 19 patients. We found that in patients with OP, Calv levels were significantly higher than in those without OP (10.6 vs. 5.5 ppb, p < 0.01). Receiver-operating characteristic analyses revealed a Calv cut-off value for OP detection of 10.2 ppb. No significant differences in the patient characteristics, except for the presence of OP (p < 0.01), were noted between the two groups stratified by the Calv cut-off value. Three-dimensional CT images of the airway revealed gradually increasing positive correlations between Calv levels and airway wall area of the third-, fourth-, and fifth-generation bronchi (r = 0.20, 0.31, 0.38; p = 0.42, 0.19, 0.038, respectively), indicating that Calv levels are strongly correlated with the wall thickness of the distal bronchi. Our results suggest that the Calv level may be a useful noninvasive detectable marker for OP after an allo-HSCT. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]