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The thermal expansion occurring when a laser beam is incident on the surface of a solid can be used to excite ultrasonic waves in the solid medium, without causing damage to the material. The resulting wavefield is characterized by a dominant shear wave and a weak compressional wave. This Letter demonstrates the possibility of generating a dominant compressional wavefield by coating the surface with a layer of clear ice. This is achieved by exploiting a minimum in the attenuation spectrum of light in ice, which occurs at around 500 nm and renders the coating transparent to green laser radiation. Ice coatings could, therefore, provide a path for the development of more sensitive laser-based nondestructive testing methods that have traditionally been affected by the poor excitability of compressional waves, especially along the direction orthogonal to the surface. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Choice behavior is rational if it is based on the maximization of some context-independent preference relation. This study re-examines the questions of implementation theory in a setting where players' choice behavior need not be rational and coalition formation must be taken into account. Our model implies that with non-rational players, the formation of groups greatly affects the design exercise. As a by-product, we also propose a notion of behavioral efficiency and we compare it with existing notions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A 57 Fe nucleus in the solar core could emit a 14.4-keV monochromatic axion through the M1 transition if a hypothetical elementary particle, axion, exists to solve the strong CP problem. Transition edge sensor (TES) X-ray microcalorimeters can detect such axions very efficiently if they are again converted into photons by a 57 Fe absorber. We have designed and produced a dedicated TES array with 57 Fe absorbers for the solar axion search. The iron absorber is set next to the TES, keeping a certain distance to reduce the iron-magnetization effect on the spectroscopic performance. A gold thermal transfer strap connects them. A sample pixel irradiated from a 55 Fe source detected 698 pulses. In contrast to thermal simulations, we consider that the pulses include either events produced in an iron absorber or gold strap at a fraction dependent on the absorption rate of each material. Furthermore, photons deposited on the iron absorber are detected through the strap as intended. The identification of all events still needs to be completed. However, we successfully operated the TES with the unique design under iron magnetization for the first time. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study attempted to develop detection methods for solar axions using transition-edge-sensor (TES) microcalorimeters. Since the axion absorber comprised of iron-57 (57Fe) is electroplated upon the membrane instead of directly onto the TES itself (with the absorber hence thermally connected to the TES via a gold thermal strap), some of the heat deposited into the absorber consequently escapes into the heat bath through the membrane before being detected by the TES. If the heat-loss depends upon the axion interaction position within the absorber, position dependence may degrade the energy resolution. Therefore, this study endeavored to evaluate the dependence of heat-loss and pulse shape on axion incident position with the COMSOL Multiphysics software package (using a finite element method). In addition, heat-loss and pulse shape were likewise evaluated when the energy was deposited directly within the gold thermal strap. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Ceramic is promising for use as a solid-laser material pumped with solar or lamp light. We developed a Cr3+ ion doped Nd : YAG ceramic laser that converts white light into near-infrared laser light more efficiently. Investigation of its optical properties has revealed that large gain can be realized with excitation power that is one order of magnitude less than that in the case of Nd : YAG. Ce3+ ion doping also makes it possible to utilize the excitation light components with wavelengths of 350 nm or less, preventing generation of color centers. A rod-type Ce3+/Cr3+/Nd : YAG ceramic pumped by white light such as solar light or flash lamp light was developed. Fluorescence lifetime of ceramic was measured. Laser oscillations at free running mode were observed. Also, numerical calculation for output laser power and gain at lasing threshold was performed. Fluorescence lifetime increased as temperature rose, which was observed in Cr/Nd : YAG ceramic. This increase suggests the existence of a cross-relaxation effect. Maximum output laser energy of 73 mJ with the peak power of 330 W was obtained. Obtained output laser energy was around twice more than that in case of Cr3+/Nd : YAG ceramic with the same Nd and Cr ion concentration. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: The mechanism of cytotoxicity of silibinin on two human hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) cell lines, HepG2 (p53 wild-type) and Hep3B cells (p53 null), is examined in relation with the induction of autophagy and phosphorylation of AMP-activated protein kinase (p-AMPK). Materials and Methods: Levels of apoptosis in relation to the levels of autophagy and those of glycolysis-related proteins, glucose transporter 1/4 (Glut1/4) and hexokinase-II (HK2), in HepG2 and Hep3B cells were examined. Results: Silibinin-induced apoptosis was incomplete for HCC cell death in that up-regulated autophagy and/or reduced level of glycolysis, which are induced by silibinin treatment, antagonized silibinin-induced apoptosis. Inhibition of autophagy with 3-methyl adenine (3MA) or blocking of AMP-activated protein kinase (AMPK) activation with Compound C (CC) enhanced silibinin-induced apoptosis. The results confirm that AMPK involved in autophagy as well as in glycolysis remaining with silibinin is responsible for attenuation of silibinin-induced apoptosis. Blocking of AMPK or autophagy contributes to the enhancement of silibinin's cytotoxicity to HepG2 and Hep3B cells. Conclusion: This study shows that incomplete apoptosis of HCC by silibinin treatment becomes complete by repression of autophagy and/or glycolysis. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objectives: The Coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic has imposed restrictions on people's social behavior. However, there is limited evidence regarding the relationship between changes in social participation and depressive symptom onset among older adults during the pandemic. We examined the association between changes in social participation and the onset of depressive symptoms among community-dwelling older adults during the COVID-19 pandemic. Design: This was a longitudinal study. Setting: Communities in Minokamo City, a semi-urban area in Japan. Participants: We recruited community-dwelling older adults aged ≥ 65 years using random sampling. Participants completed a questionnaire survey at baseline (March 2020) and follow-up (October 2020). Measurements: Depressive symptoms were assessed using the Two-Question Screen. Based on their social participation status in March and October 2020, participants were classified into four groups: "continued participation," "decreased participation," "increased participation," and "consistent non-participation." Results: A total of 597 older adults without depressive symptoms at baseline were analyzed (mean age = 79.8 years; 50.4% females). Depressive symptoms occurred in 20.1% of the participants during the observation period. Multivariable Poisson regression analysis showed that decreased social participation was significantly associated with the onset of the depressive symptoms, compared to continued participation, after adjusting for all covariates (incidence rate ratio = 1.59, 95% confidence interval = 1.01–2.50, p = 0.045). Conclusion: Older adults with decreased social participation during the COVID-19 pandemic demonstrated a high risk of developing depressive symptoms. We recommend that resuming community activities and promoting the participation of older adults, with sufficient consideration for infection prevention, are needed to maintain mental health among older adults. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

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Aim: The purpose of this work was to identify and genetically characterize enterohemorrhagic Escherichia coli (EHEC) and enteropathogenic E. coli (EPEC) O80:H2 from diarrhoeic and septicaemic calves in Belgium and to comparing them with human EHEC after whole genome sequencing. Methods and Results: Ten EHEC and 21 EPEC O80 identified by PCR between 2009 and 2018 from faeces, intestinal content and a kidney of diarrhoeic or septicaemic calves were genome sequenced and compared to 19 human EHEC identified between 2008 and 2019. They all belonged to the O80:H2 serotype and ST301, harboured the eaeξ gene, and 23 of the 29 EHEC contained the stx2d gene. Phylogenetically, they were distributed in two major sub‐lineages: one comprised a majority of bovine EPEC whereas the second one comprised a majority of stx2d bovine and human EHEC. Conclusions: Not only EPEC but also EHEC O80:H2 are present in diarrhoeic and septicaemic calves in Belgium and are genetically related to human EHEC. Significance and Impact of the Study: These findings support the need to assess cattle as potential source of contamination of humans by EHEC O80:H2 and to understand the evolution of bovine and human EHEC and EPEC O80:H2. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Frequency-dependent carrier dynamics in dinaphtho[2,3-b:2',3'-f]thieno[3,2-b]thiophene (DNTT)- based organic field-effect transistors and metal-insulator-semiconductor capacitors were studied by using admittance measurements. Both the real (conductance) and imaginary (capacitance) components of admittance, which have a mutually complementary relationship, were analyzed in the same way. On the basis of an experimental study of devices with different contact geometries, peaks observed in the conductance spectra corresponding to slopes in the capacitance spectra were classified into two groups. The high-frequency peak was attributed to the carrier injection from the top contact to the DNTT/insulator interface just underneath the contact while the low-frequency peaks were attributed to the drift current spreading all over the interface. The model calculation of carrier diffusion reproduces the low-frequency peaks very well. It is shown that the field-effect mobility from the accumulation region to the subthreshold region can be estimated by the fitting. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We are developing position-sensitive transition-edge sensor (TES) microcalorimeters (PoSTs) to detect gamma rays up to a few MeV. Each gamma-ray PoST consists of a long absorber with a TES on each end and works as a 1D imaging spectrometer. We fabricated PoSTs with 0.5 × 0.5 × 18.8 mm lead absorbers. We irradiated two PoST devices with gamma rays from a Cs-137 source. Gamma-ray pulses of the PoSTs show a strong correlation between the pulse height and the rise time. We divided the pulses in the 662 keV line into 12 groups after sorting them by rise time to determine effective pixels. We modeled the PoST device and compared the average pulses of the 12 effective pixels to numerical simulations. The actual pulses and simulated pulses were in good agreement. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Exotic atom experiments place transition-edge sensor (TES) microcalorimeter arrays in a high-energy charged particle-rich environment. When a high-energy charged particle passes through the silicon substrate of a TES array, a large amount of energy is deposited and small pulses are generated across multiple pixels in the TES array due to thermal crosstalk. We have developed analysis techniques to assess and reduce the effects of charged particle events on exotic atom X-ray measurements. Using this technique, the high-energy and low-energy components of the X-ray peaks due to pileup are eliminated, improving the energy resolution from 6.6 to 5.7 eV at 6.9 keV. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A novel triggering function developed for 240-pixel Transition-Edge Sensors is demonstrated under the high rate of particle background. The function is integrated into the standard data acquisition system in the NIST TES framework. It enables any type of combination of trigger pattern when a pixel is triggered, which is called "group trigger." As a practical implementation, the primary trigger is distributed to the four physically nearest pixels. The group trigger function was utilized throughout the entire one-month J-PARC experiment for the measurement of the Kaonic-atom X-rays. This trigger allowed us to confirm that the increased background and degraded energy resolution we observed when operating the TES array in the presence of an ion beam are the result of thermal crosstalk from charged particles. We show that the maximum of the average of the signals among the neighboring four pixels is useful for event selection. We use cuts based on this parameter to improve the peak-to-background level in a measured x-ray energy spectrum by a factor of ∼ 2, while keeping 95% of measured events. This flexible group triggering technique allows us to improve the signal to noise on the very faint Kaonic Helium x-ray lines we are measuring, better understand our experiment environment, and we believe this technique may prove useful in other ground and space-based TES applications. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We have developed a four-pixel array of superconducting transition-edge sensors with gold absorbers for the detection of a 29.2 keV γ -ray doublet decay from 229 Th. To identify the decay, an energy resolution better than 20 eV full width at half maximum (FWHM) is needed. We measured an energy resolution of 14 eV FWHM for 26 keV γ -ray decay from an 241 Am isotope in combined data of three pixels. We describe the design and the performance of the devices and discuss the baseline correction method to compensate the variation in the baseline, which was observed during the evaluation of the performance using the 241 Am isotope. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A useful function, called group trigger, is implemented in a data acquisition system of a 240-pixel X-ray transition-edge sensor array to store simultaneous waveforms from any desired set of pixels. It works as a diagnostic tool which can record both primary pulses and associated crosstalk events with enough freedom to optimize the data output. Under a high rate of charged particle background, such as in an accelerator, investigating signals from any combination of trigger patterns for a particular event is of high importance. We utilized this function throughout an entire experiment at J-PARC, measuring kaonic atom X-rays in 2018. This was the first time a group trigger was applied to exotic-atom spectroscopy. In this experiment, the primary trigger was distributed to the four physical nearest neighbor pixels for practical purposes. The function clarified the effect of thermal and electrical cross talk from X-rays and charged particles, resulting in a better understanding of the behavior of the TES array in such a high-background environment. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We integrated a TES X-ray spectrometer with a charged kaon beam line at J-PARC to perform X-ray spectroscopy of kaonic helium atoms. Limited beam intensity and a broad beam spot size made it crucial to increase the detector acceptance angle as much as possible, requiring significant development. To this end, our TES system shared the same vacuum with a cryogenic system of the liquid helium experimental target. We also specially developed a target cell for liquid helium and a thinned aperture array on top of the TES detector. Additionally, thermal and magnetic shields and infrared filters were optimized in terms of a larger acceptance angle and energy resolution of the detector. The scientific campaign was performed in June, 2018, where the whole system was stably operated for almost one month. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Several issues in developing transition edge sensor (TES) microcalorimeters for the search of monochromatic solar axions expected at 14.4 keV are studied. The potential problem of developing TES's of this purpose is in that an axion absorber of 57 Fe must be placed in close vicinity of a TES. We estimated the minimum distance to avoid magnetic interference from iron using magnetic FEM simulations, and found it 30 μ m for an iron of 5 μ m thickness. We fabricated a TES with a 10 μ m thick iron membrane separated by 60 μ m. We confirmed the superconducting transition for this TES. However, both the residual normal resistance and the transition temperature was different from those of TES without iron. We also estimated the low-temperature thermal conductivity of an iron membrane by measuring the low-temperature electrical resistance and by applying the Wiedemann–Franz law. We estimated the pulse-shape dependency on the interaction position within the 57 Fe converted using thermal FEM simulations. We found that the pulse-shape variations will limit the energy resolution to about 30 eV FWHM. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objectives: The aim of this study was to examine the impact of the combination of physical frailty and social isolation on falling in community-dwelling older adults. Design: A cross-sectional study of data obtained at registration in a randomized control trial. Setting: Community-based study of participants recruited from Toyota, Japan. Participants: 380 community-dwelling older adults (47.9% women, mean age = 72.3 ± 4.6 years). Measurements: Participants were categorized as non-frail or pre-frail/frail based on the Fried frailty criteria (slowness, weakness, exhaustion, low activity, and weight loss). Social isolation was examined using the Lubben Social Network Scale (LSNS-6), and scores lower than 12 points indicated social isolation. Participants were divided into four groups depending on pre-frail/frail status and social isolation, and experiences of multiple falls over the past year were compared between the groups. Results: Participants were classified into robust (n = 193), physical frailty (PF; n = 108), social isolation (SI; n = 43), and PF with SI (PF+SI; n = 36) groups. A total of 38 (10.0%) participants reported multiple falls. Logistic regression analysis showed that PF and SI groups were not independently associated with falling (PF: OR 1.64, 95% CI 0.65–4.16, SI: OR 2.25, 95% CI 0.77–6.58), while PF+SI group was significantly associated with falling compared with the robust group (OR 3.06, 95% CI 1.00–9.34, p = 0.049) after controlling for confounding factors. Conclusion: Our findings support the assertion that coexistence with physical frailty and social isolation were associated with falling in the older adults. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Enhancement and control of carrier lifetimes in p-type 4H-SiC have been investigated. In this study, thermal oxidation and carbon ion implantation methods, both of which are effective for lifetime enhancement in n-type SiC, were attempted on 147-μm thick p-type 4H-SiC epilayers. Effects of surface passivation on carrier lifetimes were also investigated. The carrier lifetimes in p-type SiC could be enhanced from 0.9 μs (as-grown) to 2.6 μs by either thermal oxidation or carbon implantation and subsequent Ar annealing, although the improvement effect for the p-type epilayers was smaller than that for the n-type epilayers. After the lifetime enhancement, electron irradiation was performed to control the carrier lifetime. The distribution of carrier lifetimes in each irradiated region was rather uniform, along with successful lifetime control in the p-type epilayer in the range from 0.1 to 1.6 μs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Impacts of reduction of deep levels and surface passivation on carrier lifetimes in p-type 4H-SiC epilayers are investigated. The authors reported that the carrier lifetime in n-type epilayers increased by reduction of deep levels through thermal oxidation and thermal annealing. However, the carrier lifetimes in p-type epilayers were not significantly enhanced. In this study, in order to investigate the influence of surface passivation on the carrier lifetimes, the epilayer surface was passivated by different oxidation techniques. While the improvement of the carrier lifetime in n-type epilayers was small, the carrier lifetime in p-type epilayers were remarkably improved by appropriate surface passivation. For instance, the carrier lifetime was improved from 1.4 μs to 2.6 μs by passivation with deposited SiO2 annealed in NO. From these results, it was revealed that surface recombination is a limiting factor of carrier lifetimes in p-type 4H-SiC epilayers. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Dependencies of temperature and injection level on carrier lifetimes in 50 μm thick p-type and n-type 4H-SiC epilayers have been investigated. The carrier lifetimes have been measured by differential microwave photoconductance decay measurements at various injection levels and temperatures. In both p-type and n-type epilayers, the carrier lifetimes gradually increased with increasing the injection level, which were naturally expected from the Shockley-Read-Hall (SRH) model, and after taking a maximum, the lifetimes dropped at the very high-injection level. In contrast, the carrier lifetimes exhibited continuous increase with elevating the temperature for both epilayers. In addition, the impact of thermal oxidation process on the carrier lifetimes has been also investigated. The thermal oxidation process, by which the Z1/2 and EH6/7 centers were remarkably reduced that had been observed in n-type 4H-SiC in our previous work, led to the improvement of the carrier lifetimes especially for n-type epilayers. The carrier lifetime reached 4.1 μs in p-type and 6.1 μs in n-type epilayers at 250 °C with an injection level of 1.8×1016 cm-3 through the thermal oxidation processing. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A simulation formalism for the nonlinear response of vibrational excitons is presented and applied to the OH stretching vibrations of neat liquid H2O. The method employs numerical integration of the Schrödinger equation and allows explicit treatment of fluctuating transition frequencies, vibrational couplings, dipole moments, and the anharmonicities of all these quantities, as well as nonadiabatic effects. The split operator technique greatly increases computational feasibility and performance. The electrostatic map for the OH stretching vibrations in liquid water employed in our previous study [A. Paarmann et al., J. Chem. Phys. 128, 191103 (2008)] is presented. The two-dimensional spectra are in close agreement with experiment. The fast 100 fs dynamics are primarily attributed to intramolecular mixing between states in the two-dimensional OH stretching potential. Small intermolecular couplings are sufficient to reproduce the experimental energy transfer time scales. Interference effects between Liouville pathways in excitonic systems and their impact on the analysis of the nonlinear response are discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Two-dimensional infrared photon echo and pump probe studies of the OH stretch vibration provide a sensitive probe of the correlations and couplings in the hydrogen bond network of liquid water. The nonlinear response is simulated using numerical integration of the Schrödinger equation with a Hamiltonian constructed to explicitly treat intermolecular coupling and nonadiabatic effects in the highly disordered singly and doubly excited vibrational exciton manifolds. The simulated two-dimensional spectra are in close agreement with our recent experimental results. The high sensitivity of the OH stretch vibration to the bath dynamics is found to arise from intramolecular mixing between states in the two-dimensional anharmonic OH stretch potential. Surprisingly small intermolecular couplings reproduce the experimentally observed intermolecular energy transfer times. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The updated program of the future Japanese X-ray satellite mission Diffuse Intergalactic Oxygen Surveyor (DIOS), called as Super DIOS, is planned to search for dark baryons in the form of warm-hot intergalactic medium (WHIM) with high-resolution X-ray spectroscopy. The mission will detect redshifted emission lines from OVII, OVIII and other ions, leading to an overall understanding of the physical nature and spatial distribution of dark baryons as a function of cosmological timescale. We have started the conceptual design of the satellite and onboard instruments, focusing on the era of 2030s. The major change will be an improved angular resolution of the X-ray telescope. Super DIOS will have a 10-arcsec resolution, which is an improvement by a factor of about 20 over DIOS. With this resolution, most of the contaminating X-ray sources will be separated, and the level of the diffuse X-ray background will be much reduced after subtraction of point sources. This will give us higher sensitivity to map out the WHIM in emission. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We have first demonstrated the cooperation between an X-ray TES and a directly coupled microwave SQUID multiplexer (D-coup. MW-Mux) in which SQUIDs are directly coupled to resonators. Using D-coup. MW-Mux, we successfully detected the X-ray pulses from a single-pixel TES and evaluated the energy resolution of 11.8 eV FWHM at 5.9 keV. We found this preliminary energy resolution is attributed to non-optimum bias point of the present TES, which can be improved by the future reduction of readout noise. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Vacuum UV photolyses of silane and chlorinated silanes were investigated by using rare gas resonance lamps. Strong emissions, from the A 2Δ→X 2Π transition of SiH and the 1P0→1D2 transition of Si were observed in the photolysis of SiH4 by Ar and Kr resonance lamps. It was suggested that the threshold energies for the appearance of both emissions were lower than the values obtained by the electron impact of SiH4 reported by Perrin et al. A new broad unstructured emission band in the region 300–400 nm was observed in the photolysis of SiH2Cl2 and SiHCl3 by Ar, Kr, and Xe lamps. The band was attributed to the A 1B1→X 1A1 transition of SiCl2 radicals from the measurement of the appearance energy of the emission by using synchrotron orbital radiation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Describes the process of forming for carbon nanotubes and their filling with metallic fibers developed on ion-emitting field anodes. Graphitization of the carbon nanotubes; Examination of the growth morphology and lateral dimension of metallic fibers; Investigation of the structure and composition of metallic fibers.

Studies the effect of annealing on the microstructure of co-sputtered thin films consisting of cobalt nanograins embedded in carbon. Control of the particle size; Variation in carbon concentration; Deposition chamber geometry.

Examines electron and ion currents collected at the metal shield and floating shield to study the behavior of high-current vacuum arcs. Behavior of the arcs with the active anode; Property of vacuum arc on small copper electrodes; Difference between the maximum value and the value at the arc-current crest.

Presents a study which examined anode surfaces states and traces of the cathode spots after arcing of various anode discharge modes in vacuum arcs. Experimental details; Results and discussion; Conclusion.

Association mapping is an attractive method to identify QTLs in perennial horticultural crops such as citrus, as it does not need a designed cross between parental genotypes and can save time and labor to construct a segregating population. It usually requires more genetic markers than linkage-based QTL mapping owing to a lower degree of linkage disequilibrium (LD). However, recent advances in next-generation sequencing offer high-throughput, cost-effective methods, including genotyping-by-sequencing (GBS), for genotyping massive amounts of single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs). In this study, we performed a genome-wide association study (GWAS) of fruit-quality traits in citrus using SNPs obtained by GBS. We evaluated 110 citrus accessions, including landraces, modern cultivars, and breeding lines, for eight fruit-quality traits (fruit weight, fruit skin color, fruit surface texture, peelability, pulp firmness, segment firmness, sugar content, and acid content) during 2005 to 2012 (except 2007). GBS found 2309 SNPs, which we anchored to the clementine reference genome. We evaluated LD in the 110 accessions and confirmed that GBS gave enough SNPs to conduct GWAS. We identified seven QTLs, including four novel ones, comprising four significant QTLs for fruit weight and one QTL each for fruit skin color, pulp firmness, and segment firmness. These QTLs offer promise for use in citrus crossbreeding. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objectives: A number of studies have reported that frailty is cross-sectionally associated with cognitive decline and is also a risk for future cognitive decline or dementia; however, there have been only a few studies that focus on the association between prefrailty and cognitive dysfunction. In the current study, we investigated the association between prefrailty and cognitionDesign: A cross-sectional study of the data obtained at registration in a randomized control trial.Setting: Toyota, Japan.Participants: Community-dwelling older subjects (male 54.6%) who had cognitive complaints.Measurements: A battery of neuropsychological and physical assessments were performed. Prefrailty was defined as exhibiting one or two of the five Fried criteria (weight loss, exhaustion, weakness, slow gait speed and low physical activity). We performed a multiple regression analysis to investigate the associations of cognitive performance with prefrailty, adjusting for the factors that were significantly different between the robust and prefrailty groups. To assess the cognitive attributes that were significantly associated with prefrailty, logistic analysis was performed to see if one specific criterion of the five frailty criteria was associated with cognitive performance.Results: The study subjects included 183 prefrail and 264 robust individuals. The prefrail subjects with cognitive complaints were older, less educated, more depressive, and more likely to have diabetes mellitus than the robust subjects. The prefrail subjects had lower performance in a wide-range of cognitive domains, and after adjustments for age, education, depressive mood, and diabetes mellitus, prefrailty was associated with a decline in delayed memory and processing speed. Among the components of the Fried criteria, slow gait speed and loss of activity were significantly associated with slow processing speed as assessed by the digit symbol substitution test.Conclusion: The current results demonstrated that prefrailty was associated with worse memory and processing speed performance, but not with other cognitive domains. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: In the management of estrogen receptor-positive, human epidermal growth factor receptor 2-negative metastatic breast cancer (ER+HER2−MBC) patients, endocrine therapy (ET) is preferred to chemotherapy (CT) as a primary systemic therapy (PST) when tumor burden is not high. However, there are no definite criteria for choosing a PST, transitioning from ET to CT or using maintenance ET subsequent to CT. Methods: We reviewed the medical records of 311 ER+HER2−MBC patients who underwent CT from September 2002 to December 2016 and assessed their outcomes. Results: Of the 311 patients, 178 (57%) received ET as a PST (ET-first group), and 133 (43%) received CT prior to ET (CT-first group). The ET-first group showed a median overall survival (OS) from the diagnosis of MBC (OS) of 1593 days, and the median OS from the initiation of CT (OS) was 938 days. Patients with visceral involvement, liver metastasis, soft tissue metastasis, ≥3 organ involvement, or primary advanced BC at the MBC diagnosis showed a significantly higher tendency to be assigned to the CT-first group ( P < 0.01 for any visceral involvement, P < 0.05 for all others). Maintenance ET was available in 74 (55.6%) patients in the CT-first group, who showed a significantly better OS and OS than patients without maintenance ET (median OS 1423 and 867 days, respectively, P < 0.0001; median OS 1350 and 637 days, respectively, P < 0.0001). Conclusion: Our findings suggest the possibility for changing the treatment paradigm of patients with ER+HER2−MBC, so a randomized prospective study is warranted to determine the optimum sequence of systemic therapies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background Dermatophagoides farinae is a source of airborne house dust mite ( HDM) allergens. We elucidated IgE-reactive allergens from D. farinae by two-dimensional immunoblotting-based allergenome analysis, and identified one new allergen, named Der f 35, that possesses IgE-binding capacity comparable to that of Der f 2. The aim of this study was to clarify the allergenic capacity of new HDM allergen Der f 35. Methods We cloned der f 35 from D. farinae mRNA and produced recombinant Der f 35 in Escherichia coli. The IgE-binding capacity of Der f 35 and its cross-reactivity with group 2 allergens from D. farinae and Psoroptes ovis were determined by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) and ELISA inhibition assays, respectively. Results The deduced amino acid sequence for der f 35, which possesses the MD-2-related lipid-recognition domain, showed higher identity with group 2 allergens from P. ovis (61.5%) and Blomia tropicalis (50.7%) than with Der f 2 (40.8%). Der f 35 showed IgE-binding frequencies of 77.5% (31/40) for the native form upon allergenome analysis and 51.4% (18/35) for recombinant structure by ELISA. Der f 35 showed cross-reactivity with Der f 2 and Pso o 2 in reaction with HDM-allergic patients' IgE by ELISA inhibition assay. Conclusion Der f 35 is a candidate major allergen from D. farinae, which is more similar to group 2 allergens from sheep scab mite and storage mites. Der f 35 could be responsible for the cross-reactivity among group 2 mite allergens. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We calculate the electron excitation in cubic silicon carbide caused by the intense femtosecond laser double pulses using the time-dependent density functional theory (TDDFT). After the first pulse ends, excited electrons should be relaxed by collisional processes. Because TDDFT does not include scattering processes, thermalization is mimicked by following three assumptions. First, we assume no collisions and relaxation processes. Second, we assume the partially thermalized electronic state defined by two quasi-temperatures in the conduction and valence bands individually. Third, we assume the thermalized electron distribution, which is expressed by single electron temperature. Our results indicate that the plasma frequency (ωpl) formed by the first pulse is the key parameter in energy absorption in the second pulse. When the plasma frequency of the plasma formed by the first laser approaches the frequency of the laser, resonant excitation by the second pulse occurs. The lower electron temperature shows higher ωpl and higher efficient energy absorption because the effective mass of the electron becomes smaller. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Introduction of a ferromagnetic quantum well in a ferromagnetic tunnel junction is shown to greatly enhance the tunneling magnetoresistance (TMR) effect, due to spin filtering as well as energy filtering. We have theoretically analyzed resonant transmission probability of a magnetic double barrier heterostructure consisting of III–V based ferromagnetic semiconductor GaMnAs, and nonmagnetic semiconductor AlAs. Experimentally, we have observed very large TMR effect of such a system grown by low-temperature molecular-beam epitaxy, and have shown that some of the measured tunneling features are attributed to spin-dependent resonant tunneling. © 2000 American Institute of Physics. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We evaluated the predictivity and applicability of previously proposed models for the reproductive toxicity of chemicals to Daphnia magna [SAR QSAR Environ. Res. 27:10, 833–850] by using external data from the United States Environmental Protection Agency database ECOTOX. These models were based on quantitative structure–activity–activity relationships (QSAARs) and a quantitative activity–activity relationship (QAAR): the models can be categorized as acute-to-chronic models with (QSAAR) and without (QAAR) structural and physicochemical (e.g. distribution coefficients, logD) descriptors. We found that the QSAAR models were suitable for chemicals with an ‘–NH2attached to aromatic carbon’ sub-structure, whereas the QAAR model was better for multicomponent compounds, coordination complexes, tin compounds and straight-chain primary amines. For chemicals with a known specific mode of action (e.g. pesticides and antibacterial agents and their derivatives), toxicity estimation within the acute-to-chronic framework requires special attention. We evaluated the applicability of the models on the basis of the descriptors in the models. We recommend that chemicals be pre-screened before their toxicities are estimated with these models: pre-screening enabled the estimation of the toxicities of some chemicals within the applicability domains of the models. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

The improvement of fruit quality is an important objective in citrus breeding. Using an F segregating population from a cross between citrus cultivars 'Harehime' ('E647'-'Kiyomi' [ Citrus unshiu Marcow. 'Miyagawa Wase' × Citrus sinensis (L.) Osbeck 'Trovita'] × 'Osceola'-a cultivar of clementine [ Citrus clementina hort. ex Tanaka] × 'Orland' [ Citrus paradisi Macfad. 'Duncan' × Citrus tangerina hort. ex Tanaka] × 'Miyagawa Wase') and 'Yoshida' ponkan ( Citrus reticulata Blanco 'Yoshida'), a SNP-based genetic linkage map was constructed and quantitative trait locus (QTL) mapping of four fruit-quality traits (fruit weight, sugar content, peel puffing, and water rot) was performed. The constructed genetic linkage map of 'Harehime' consisted of 442 single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) on 9 linkage groups (LGs) and covered 635.8 cM of the genome, while that of 'Yoshida' ponkan consisted of 332 SNPs on 9 LGs and covered 892.9 cM of its genome. We identified four QTLs associated with fruit weight, one QTL associated with sugar content, three QTLs associated with peel puffing, and one QTL associated with water rot. For these QTL regions, we estimated the haplotypes of the crossed parents and verified the founding cultivars that these QTLs were originated from and their inheritance in descendant cultivars using pedigree information. QTLs identified in this study provide useful information for marker-assisted breeding of citrus in Japan. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We constructed models for acute to chronic estimation of theDaphnia magnareproductive toxicities of chemical substances from theirDaphnia magnaacute immobilization toxicities. The models combined the acute toxicities with structural and physicochemical descriptors. We used multiregression analysis and selected the descriptors for the models by means of a genetic algorithm. Of the best 100 models (as indicated by the lack of fit score), 90% included the following descriptors: acute toxicity (i.e. an activity parameter), distribution coefficient (logD) and structural indicator variables that indicate the presence of –NH2attached to aromatic carbon and the presence of a chlorine atom. We compared the predictive abilities of five of these quantitative structure–activity–activity relationship (QSAAR) acute to chronic estimation models with the predictive ability of a simple linear regression model. The comparison revealed that inclusion of structural and physicochemical descriptors such as those in QSAAR models can improve models for extrapolation from acute to chronic toxicity. Our results also provide a QSAAR framework that is expected to be useful for the further development of chronic toxicity estimation models. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Reports on the magnetrotransport properties of the (Ga1-xMnx) As/AlAs magnetic semiconductor superlattices (SLs), specifically dealing with the Hall effect. How the magnetic (GaMnAs)/nonmagnetic SLs were grown; Discussion on the dependence of the magnetic and transport properties on the GaMnAs well width; Features of diluted magnetic semiconductors containing a large fraction of magnetic ions in compound semiconductors.

Describes the magnetic circular dichroism spectra of Ga1-xMnxAs expitaxial films, while examining their electronic structure. Method used to observe the ferromagnetic ordering of these films; How the films were grown.

Investigates the magnetic and magnetotransport properties of novel III-V diluted magnetic semiconductors. Growing of the GaMnAs thin films on GaAs(001) substrates by low temperature molecular beam epitaxy.

Presents a study which investigated the electrical properties and structure of high-conductivity n-type CdTe films with large crystallite size. Sample preparation; Dark conductivity of the film at room temperature; Explanation on the decrease in the conductivity of the film.