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Farmlands are becoming more important as waterfowl foraging habitats, while natural wetlands are being lost globally. However, it is unclear how waterfowl coexist in agricultural landscapes by resource partitioning. We evaluated the diets of seven sympatric dabbling ducks foraging in rice paddy and lotus fields around Lake Kasumigaura, the second largest lake in Japan, during two wintering seasons (from November to February) by faecal DNA metabarcoding using chloroplast trnL and mitochondrial CO1 region sequences. We examined 420 faecal samples and found different patterns of dietary diversity and composition among the duck species. The pattern also differed between plant and invertebrate food. Dietary niche partitioning was clear in plant food. Large-bodied ducks intensively use crop plants, and other ducks might mediate competition by using terrestrial and aquatic plants that are suitable for their foraging behaviours or microhabitats. Dietary segregation among species was the most apparent in February, when the abundance of foraging ducks was the largest. This study illustrated the complex pattern of dietary niche partitioning of dabbling ducks in agricultural landscapes, which might be difficult to evaluate by conventional approaches. The availability of crop plants, as well as other plant food resources in flooted areas and farmland dikes, may enable ducks to coexist by spatial or behavioural resource partitioning.

The purpose of this study was to develop a method for detecting microbial activity based on soil esterase activity during biodegradation of polyester biodegradable mulch films after plowing the field. Herein, we report that the p-nitrophenyl butyrate (pNP–C4) substrate, among five pNP fatty acid substrates (pNP–acetate (C2), –C4, –hexanoate (C6), –decanoate (C10), and dodecanoate (C12)) in a cultivated field, is a specific indicator for detecting microbial activity associated with biodegradation of biodegradable polyesters. To evaluate film degradation by loss of weight and visual area, pieces of three different films were placed independently in meshed plastic bags and buried in a cultivated field in Japan, for seven months. One was made from poly(butylene succinate-co-adipate) (PBSA), and two were biodegradable polyester (poly(butylene terephthalate-co-adipate) and poly(butylene succinate)-type polymer)-based commercial films (hereafter described as films A and B) and weathered for three months in the cultivated field. The soil that adhered to the mesh bag and film was retrieved and mixed, and their esterase activities were measured using the five pNP fatty acid substrates. From the loss of visual area, the time taken from burial to accelerated degradation increased, in the order of PBSA, film A, and film B. The reproducibility of the hydrolytic activity values of pNP–C2, –C4, and –C6 in bulk soil were considered sufficient to measure baselines for the enzymatic activities. Among these substrates, the hydrolytic activity of pNP–C4 was significantly higher in the degradation process of PBSA and film A. In addition, unlike the pNP–C2 and –C6, the hydrolytic activity of the pNP–C4 in the bulk soil was not affected by changes in soil temperature and moisture under the conditions of this experiment. Therefore, the pNP–C4 hydrolytic activity can aid in the detection of the microbial activity associated with the biodegradation of polyester-based biodegradable mulch films in cultivated field soils.

High Mn austenitic steel is expected to be a next-generation structural material for cryogenic use by maintaining a stable fcc crystal structure even at cryogenic temperatures by adding a large amo...

High-Mn austenitic steel is expected to be a next-generation structural material for cryogenic use by maintaining a stable fcc crystal structure even at cryogenic temperature by adding a large amou...

Background: A critical event in age-related diseases involves the glycation of various proteins in the animal body to generate advanced glycation end products (AGEs). We have previously found that black raspberry extract (BRE) has effects on age-related diseases. From this observation, we expected that berry extracts, specifically BRE, would have positive effects on AGE-stimulated cell events that link to age-related diseases. Objective: To discuss the potency of berry extracts against diseases attributable to the AGE-dependent changes of cellular events, in this study, we examined the effects of berry extracts on the cellular events changed upon AGE stimulation of human umbilical vein endothelial cells (HUVECs) through AGE receptors. Methods: After HUVECs were incubated with AGE-BSA in the presence of serially diluted berry extracts, mRNA and protein levels of AGE receptors, intracellular AGE accumulation, and ROS production in the cell were determined by qRT-PCR and Western blotting, ELISA, and staining with the fluorescent probe, respectively. Results: Although concentration-dependent effects of berry extracts tested on mRNA levels of AGE receptors in HUVECs were not clear, mRNA level of the AGE receptor RAGE that is involved in the intracellular ROS production was increased by Blabina, which contains BRE, and the well-known anti-glycation compound aminoguanidine (AGD). In contrast, the protein expression level of RAGE was decreased by BRE and Blabina, but not by AGD. It was also found that BRE and Blabina suppressed AGE-BSA-stimulated ROS production in HUVECs. The extent of inhibition in the RAGE protein expression by BRE and Blabina was correlated well with the ROS generation measured in these samples. Conclusions: The results obtained in this study demonstrate that BRE has the most potent inhibitory effect on ROS accumulation in the cell, probably due to the suppression in the expression level of the RAGE protein. These observations suggest that black raspberry could be a potential nutraceutical to prevent various age-related diseases. Keywords: AGEs; RAGE; ROS; black raspberry; HUVECs.

In multi-pass welding of high manganese austenitic steel, weld metal is solidified in austenite single phase and hot cracking may occur depending on residual stress. In order to identify the cracki...

Background To further improve rheumatoid arthritis (RA) treatment, it is necessary to understand each RA patient’s satisfaction and to identify the factors affecting their satisfaction. Despite the rise in medical costs for RA, little is known about the factors that influence patient satisfaction with the cost of treatment in RA patients. Methods This is a multicenter observational study of Japanese RA patients from the FRANK Registry with data analyzed from March 2017 to August 2020. We collected data on demographic characteristics, clinical data, quality of life which was evaluated using the EuroQol 5-dimensional questionnaire (EQ5D), and patient satisfaction. The four categories of patient satisfaction were evaluated individually (i.e., cost, treatment efficacy, activities of daily living [ADL], and global treatment satisfaction). We analyzed the factors that affected each patient’s satisfaction, such as age, sex, EQ5D, disease duration, disease activity, and treatment. Results This study included 2235 RA outpatients (406 males, 1829 females). In RA patients, “very satisfied” and “satisfied” were given for nearly half of each satisfaction aspect (cost 49%; efficacy 72%; ADL 58%; global treatment 66%) at the time of the initial registration. To investigate the factors influencing each satisfaction, multivariate analysis has revealed that the use of b/tsDMARDs increased satisfaction of treatment effect (odds ratio [OR] 0.66) and ADL (OR 0.78) but decreased cost satisfaction (OR 2.21). Age (50–64 years; OR 0.91; 65–74 years, 0.55: ≥ 75 years, 0.35), female (OR 0.81), and history of musculoskeletal surgery (OR 0.60) all increased cost satisfaction. Patients with lower disease activity and higher EQ5D scores had higher levels of satisfaction in all areas. Conclusions In this study, patient satisfaction in terms of cost, treatment effect, ADL, and overall treatment was generally higher, but some patients were dissatisfied. The cost of satisfaction increased with age and a history of musculoskeletal surgery, while it decreased with a lower EQ5D score and the use of b/tsDMARDs.

In this study, we focused on the fact that the color information of an image has a significant effect on the emotion recalled, and we created a dataset with discrete and continuous emotion labels for color and grayscale image pairs, which are not present in existing emotion image datasets. As a result of the analysis of the continuous-valued emotion labels, we found that the color images evoked a wider range of positive and negative emotions. We also conducted experiments to transform the color of the image to the target emotion using the emotion label and the image as input and succeeded in changing the color of the entire image according to the input emotion value. Another experiment is conducted to convert the emotion category and we confirmed that the image was generated in such a way that the evoked emotion was changed compared to the original image.

Varestraint test is one of the most-used methods to evaluate weld solidification cracking susceptibility. However, the standard about the detailed test method and the evaluation method has not been ...

MeV gamma-rays provide a unique window for the direct measurement of line emissions from radioisotopes, but observations have made little significant progress since COMPTEL on board the Compton Gamma-ray Observatory (CGRO). To observe celestial objects in this band, we are developing an electron-tracking Compton camera (ETCC) that realizes both bijective imaging spectroscopy and efficient background reduction gleaned from the recoil-electron track information. The energy spectrum of the observation target can then be obtained by a simple ON–OFF method using a correctly defined point-spread function on the celestial sphere. The performance of celestial object observations was validated on the second balloon SMILE-2+ , on which an ETCC with a gaseous electron tracker was installed that had a volume of 30 × 30 × 30 cm3. Gamma-rays from the Crab Nebula were detected with a significance of 4.0σ in the energy range 0.15–2.1 MeV with a live time of 5.1 hr, as expected before launch. Additionally, the light curve clarified an enhancement of gamma-ray events generated in the Galactic center region, indicating that a significant proportion of the final remaining events are cosmic gamma-rays. Independently, the observed intensity and time variation were consistent with the prelaunch estimates except in the Galactic center region. The estimates were based on the total background of extragalactic diffuse, atmospheric, and instrumental gamma-rays after accounting for the variations in the atmospheric depth and rigidity during the level flight. The Crab results and light curve strongly support our understanding of both the detection sensitivity and the background in real observations. This work promises significant advances in MeV gamma-ray astronomy.

MeV gamma-ray astronomy in an energy range of hundreds of keV to tens of MeV is a unique window for observing nucleosynthesis, however this field has not opened up until recently because of imaging difficulties. Thus, we are developing an electron-tracking Compton camera (ETCC), which consists of a gaseous electron tracker and pixel scintillator arrays, as a next generation MeV gamma-ray telescope. Because the ETCC detects all parameters after Compton scattering, we can determine the momentum of incident gamma-rays with powerful background rejection. This ETCC has confirmed low-noise and high-sensitivity observations at high altitude through Sub-MeV gamma-ray Imaging Loaded-on-balloon Experiment I (SMILE-I) in 2006 and SMILE-2+ in 2018. Therefore, we are planning scientific observations using an ETCC with an effective area of ∼10 cm2 for 0.3 MeV, a spatial resolution of ≤10 degrees for 0.5 MeV, and a field of view of 3 sr as the next step (SMILE-3). In this paper, we present the design of the SMILE-3 ETCC and its expected observations.

Safe, secure, and environmentally friendly active substances should be developed. VB (virus block) refers to an antibacterial/antiviral mixture of two kinds of polyoxometalates (PMs), i.e., K11H[(VO)3(SbW9O33)2]&middot, 27H2O (VB2) and &alpha, Na2[SbW9O33]9&minus, (VB3), and polyhexamethylene biguanide (PHMB). VB was demonstrated to exert antiviral effects on cultured cells. The effects were maintained even in hygiene products or solids. The antiviral effects were analyzed by reverse transcription&ndash, polymerase chain reaction (RT&ndash, PCR), and the results were correlated with TCID50, potentially eliminating the need for handling infectious viruses. VB was demonstrated to be extremely effective (up to 99.99% inhibition) in cultured cells, with antibacterial/antiviral effects maintained in VB-containing hygiene products. VB was applied to solids, demonstrating their high applicability and versatility. VB withstands high temperatures regardless of materials because its effects are enhanced by more frequent contact with viruses and bacteria due to the increased surface area of the compound.

The first directional dark matter search with three-dimensional tracking with head–tail sensitivity (3D-vector tracking analysis) was performed with a gaseous three-dimensional tracking detector, or the NEWAGE-0.3b’ detector. The search was carried out from 2013 July to 2017 August (Run14 to Run18) at the Kamioka underground laboratory. The total livetime is 434.85 d, corresponding to an exposure of 4.51 kg$\>$d. A 90 % confidence level upper limit on spin-dependent WIMP-proton cross-section of $4.3\times10^{2}$ pb for WIMPs with the mass of 150 GeV$\>c^{-2}$ is obtained.

In this paper, a waveband-shift-free optical phase conjugator based on difference-frequency generation (DFG-OPC) that enables broadband operation is proposed and theoretically investigated. First, the principle of phase-conjugated (PC) wave generation with the DFG-OPC is mathematically described. Using a Sagnac loop interferometer with a χ(2) optical nonlinear material and two dispersive elements (DEs), a PC wave with the same wavelength as a signal can be generated. Subsequently, the required DE length difference for the PC wave generation is theoretically calculated. The calculation results indicate the minimal DE length difference is 20.0 μm, and this is because the DFG-OPC enables broadband operation. Second, the wavelength characteristics of the DFG-OPC are investigated through numerical simulation. The operation bandwidth of the DFG-OPC depends on the DE length difference, and an operating bandwidth of the DFG-OPC of 54.5 nm can be achieved when the DE length difference is less than 0.01 m. Finally, the influence of the splitting ratio of an optical 3-dB coupler in the DFG-OPC is numerically studied. The results indicate that tolerance of the optical coupler splitting ratio is equal to or less than ±6% for the DFG-OPC.

Background: To maintain good health, it is important to eliminate extra reactive oxygen generated in the body. Furthermore, ingesting foods containing antioxidants is beneficial. The oxygen radical absorbance capacity (ORAC) values for black raspberry extract (BRE), blueberry extract (BBE), and raspberry extract (RBE) are 62, 66, and 49 µM Trolox equivalents (TE)/g respectively. These values are higher than those for typical antioxidant foods that have been discovered so far (3–30 µM TE/g). Our aim was to find new functionality from the food with the high ORAC value. Therefore, we have prepared these four berry extracts and examined whether they have anti-aging effects and if those effects correlate with their antioxidant activities. Methods: We studied the following effects of 4 berry extracts: 1) lens cell protective effects; 2) effects against alopecia; 3) induction of uncoupling protein-1 (UCP1), a regulator of fat and energy consumption in adipocytes, and stimulation of irisin secretion from skeletal muscle cells; and 4) inhibitory effects on melanocyte tyrosinase activity. The evaluation method was based on below; 1) a-crystallin, type 17 collagen, heat shock protein 47 (HSP47), UCP1 and Irisin - mRNA by qRT-PCR, 2) the amount of the UCP1 and Irisin protein by ELISA. 3) Inhibition of tyrosinase activity was measured by dopachrome production using L-tyrosine. Results: In lens cells, a-crystallin mRNA expression was induced 1 hour after treatment of the cell with Blabina (a powdered formulation containing BRE) and BRE. The extracts of all four berry species promoted the growth of follicle dermal papilla cells by 3-20% in a concentration-dependent manner. These berry extracts were also discovered to markedly induce the expression of mRNAs of type 17 collagen and HSP47 in the hair follicle stem cell and elevate the expression levels of UCP1 mRNA and its protein in adipocytes in a concentration-dependent manner. BRE and Blabina inhibited 5a-reductase in follicle dermal papilla cells and tyrosinase activity in melanocytes at the concentrations which inhibited dopachrome production by at least 50%. Finally, Blabina was discovered to stimulate the irisin secretion from skeletal muscles. Conclusion: These results suggest that berry extracts, particularly BRE, have anti-aging effects through their higher antioxidant activities.

This paper presents a micro UGVs (Unmanned Ground Vehicles) using an SoC FPGA with self-localization and motion planning developed for the FPGA Design Competition. The purpose of this competition is to achieve external state recognition and vehicle control required for automatic driving with low power consumption and high performance using an FPGA. We adopt Xilinx Zynq UltraScale+ MPSoC and Xilinx Artix-7 for autonomous vehicles. The Zynq and Artix-7 are used for processing that requires high computational costs and processing that controls peripherals such as DC motors, respectively. An autonomous driving system is constructed with a layer structure from abstracted route planning to physical controlling. In the self-localization layer, high-precision estimation is performed by sensor fusion of landmark observations, wheel odometry, and inertial odometry using particle filter. In the path planning layer, a path is planned by Informed-RRT*, and in the path tracking layer, the vehicle is controlled to track the path by Pure Pursuit. A platform for implementing the autonomous driving system can be built with small amount of resources in the FPGAs. Our FPGA implementation of self-localization and motion planning are currently under development.

M-ary modulated signals interleaved with amplified reference light is proposed and numerically investigated. The proposed method improves chromatic dispersion tolerance, and transmittable distance of 10-Gbuad interleaved 16QAM signals is extended by 2.46 times compared to the conventional systems.

Influence of phase constant difference between two dispersive elements in difference-frequency generation based optical-phase-conjugator is theoretically studied. Calculation results show a slight change of a phase constant due to refractive index change with $1.0\,\,\mathrm {x}10^{-7}$ order severely affects output phase-conjugated signal power.

We aimed to develop rhabdomyolysis (RB) phenotyping algorithms using machine learning techniques and to create subphenotyping algorithms to identify RB patients who lack RB diagnosis. Two pattern algorithms, one with a focus on improving predictive value and one focused on improving sensitivity, were finally created and had a high area under the curve value of 0.846. Although we were unable to create subphenotyping algorithms, an attempt to detect unknown RB patients is important for epidemiological studies.

Data standardiztion an important aspect to ensure data quality for utilizing large-scale, medical information databases such as the Medical Information Database Network (MID-NET) Project in Japan. We established a governance center to assess the consistency of standard codes across MID-NET-cooperating medical institutions. Moreover, we developed a real-time validation tool and determined its effect in improving data quality in medical institutions by providing a central feedback on the detected differences in standard disease-name codes.

The noise property of a phase-sensitive amplifier using an optical phase-locked pump was evaluated. An average NF of 1. 7-dB at a 23.2-dB gain was achieved within an input power range of −31 to −21 dBm.

Wavelength-conversion free optical phase conjugator (OPC) based on difference frequency generation is proposed. Numerical results show the proposed OPC enables over 60-nm wideband operation.

An underfilm corrosion simulation method for epoxy coated steel panels in ship’s water ballast tanks (WBT) has been developed. The incubation and extension of coating failure are simulated by using 2-dimensional cellular automaton method, and the steel diminution is simulated by modifying the corrosion model proposed by Kawamura et al. (2015). Analysis parameters are determined by using the results of onboard exposure and cyclic corrosion tests performed by Shiotani et al. (2014). The change in corroded surface shape of epoxy coated and scribed steel panels made of conventional steel and corrosion resistant steel (CRS) exposed in an ore carrier’s WBT for 4.8 years is simulated. The simulated coating deterioration (blister) area and the corroded surface profile agree well with those measured. This demonstrates the effectiveness of the developed simulation method and the determined parameters. The differences in analysis parameters between conventional steel and CRS suggest that CRS can reduce the harmful effect of the active corrosion region on the remaining coating life at the blister’s frontline and the corrosion under the blister.

Direction sensitivity could provide robust evidence for the direct detection of weakly interacting massive particles constituting dark matter. However, the sensitivity of this method remains low due to the radioactive backgrounds. The purpose of this study is to develop a low-background detector as a two-dimensional imaging device for a gaseous time projection chamber. In direction-sensitive dark matter experiments (e.g. NEWAGE), α -rays emitted from the detector components often create substantial radioactive backgrounds. Based on the study of the background of NEWAGE, a new detector “low- α μ -PIC” is developed. The produced μ -PIC performs well as a gas detector and the α -ray emission rate from the μ -PIC reduced by a factor of 100.

Micro pixel chambers (μ-PICs), which are a type of the micro-pattern gas chambers, are usually manufactured using the printed-circuit-board (PCB) technology. However, recent application projects have begun to require higher gas gains and finer position resolution than those obtainable with current μ-PICs. It is difficult to improve the electrode structure to achieve these improvements because PCB technology limits the precision of electrode fabrication and the thickness of the substrate. We have therefore adopted micro-electro-mechanical-systems (MEMS) technology and developed the first prototype of a through-glass-via (TGV) μ-PIC. This prototype TGV μ-PIC worked well, achieving a maximum gain of approximately 20,000 and an energy resolution of 20.6% (FWHM) at 5.9 keV over the whole 5 × 5 cm2 detection area.

NEWAGE is a direction-sensitive direct dark matter search experiment with a three-dimensional gaseous tracking detector (μ-TPC). Our goals are detection of the dark matter - nucleus scattering signal and the investigation of kinematics of the dark matter in the Galaxy. A dark matter search experiment with the NEWAGE-0.3b’ detector was performed from Jul. 2013 to Aug. 2016 (RUN14 to Run17). The total live time is 230.16 days which is about 8 times larger than that of our previous measurement. In the analysis, the event selection was improved and the background was reduced to about 1/3 at 50 keV. This work is important to investigate the properties of the dark matter in the Galaxy in the future dark matter research.

We present a platform on all-programmable SoC for micro autonomous robots for probing, exploring, rescuing, etc. Contrast to challenges for auto drive cars having relatively rich power supply and high-performance computing platform, our challenge is to develop technologies for autonomous robots with tight restrictions on size, weight, and energy consumption. We utilize all-programmable SoCs for the purpose and develop a system including camera interface, image processing, recognition, action planning, and motor control. The key techniques are to optimize the dataflow between software (and main memory) and hardware for efficiency and to adopt a standard stream interface in hardware modules for productivity. The system can be utilized as a common platform for micro autonomous robots. The system is implemented as a robot car named ZybotR2-Z2 and achieves 3 to 37 frame/sec image recognition and car control with single Zynq-7020 device.

A new active target named MAIKo (Mu-PIC based Active target for Inverse Kinematics$_{\circ}$) has been developed at Kyoto University and Research Center for Nuclear Physics (RCNP), Osaka University. MAIKo is suited for missing-mass spectroscopy of unstable nuclei at forward scattering angles in inverse kinematics. MAIKo consists of a time projection chamber (TPC), which incorporates a micro-pixel chamber ($\mu$-PIC) as the electron multiplication and collection system. In MAIKo, the medium gas also plays the role of a reaction target, thus allowing detection of low-energy recoil particles with high position resolution. The MAIKo TPC was commissioned with He(93%)+iso-C$_{4}$H$_{10}$(7%) and He(93%)+CO$_{2}$(7%) mixture gasses at 430 hPa. The gas gain and the angular resolution of MAIKo were evaluated with an alpha source and a $^{4}$He beam at 56 MeV. The TPC was stably operated up to 1000-kcps beam intensity. A tracking algorithm using the Hough transform method has been developed to analyze scattering events. An angular resolution of 1.3$^{\circ}$ was achieved for scattered $^{4}$He particles., Comment: 13 pages, 17 figures