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This study about former Overseas Filipino Workers (OFWs) would likely focus on the challenges and experiences that they face upon returning to the Philippines after working abroad. Many OFWs leave the country in search of better job opportunities and higher wages, but their time abroad is often marked by separation from their families and adjustment to new cultures. They may also struggle with feelings of isolation and depression, as well as financial challenges. Despite these challenges, many former OFWs are being resilient and resourceful, using their experiences abroad and small savings to build small businesses and also receives support from the government of their home country. This study generated four themes namely: 1. For the Future, 2. Challenges, 3. Motivation, and 4. Coping Strategies.

Successive phase transitions in a rare-earth monoaxial chiral magnet DyNi 3 Ga9 have been investigated by resonant x-ray diffraction. Magnetic dipole and electric quadrupole degrees of freedom arising from the large angular moment of J = 15/2, in combination with the symmetric and antisymmetric exchange interactions and the crystal field anisotropy, give rise to competing ordered phases. We show that the antiferromagnetically coupled Dy moments in the c-plane form an incommensurate helimagnetic order with q ∼ (0, 0, 0.43) just below TN = 10 K, which further exhibits successive first-order transitions to the commensurate helimagnetic order with q = (0, 0, 0.5) at TN′ = 9 K, and to the canted antiferromagnetic order with q = (0, 0, 0) at TN′′ = 8.5 K. The relation of the magnetic helicity and the crystal chirality in DyNi3 Ga9 is also uniquely determined. Splitting of the (6, 0, 0) Bragg peak is observed below TN′′ , reflecting the lattice distortion due to the ferroquadrupole order. In the canted antiferromagnetic phase, a spin-flop transition takes place at 5 K when the temperature is swept in a weak magnetic field. We discuss these transitions from the viewpoint of competing energies described above.

Optical conductivity [$\sigma(\omega)$] of CeRhIn$_5$ and YbNi$_3$Ga$_9$ have been measured at external pressures to 10 GPa and at low temperatures to 6 K. Regarding CeRhIn$_5$, at ambient pressure the main feature in $\sigma(\omega)$ is a Drude peak due to free carriers. With increasing pressure, however, a characteristic mid-infrared (mIR) peak rapidly develops in $\sigma(\omega)$, and its peak energy and width increase with pressure. These features are consistent with an increased conduction ($c$)-$f$ electron hybridization at high pressure, and show that the pressure has tuned the electronic state of CeRhIn$_5$ from very weakly to strongly hybridized ones. As for YbNi$_3$Ga$_9$, in contrast, a marked mIR peak is observed already at ambient pressure, indicating a strong $c$-$f$ hybridization. At high pressures, however, the mIR peak shifts to lower energy and becomes diminished, and seems merged with the Drude component at 10 GPa. Namely, CeRhIn$_5$ and YbNi$_3$Ga$_9$ exhibit some opposite tendencies in the pressure evolutions of $\sigma(\omega)$ and electronic structures. These results are discussed in terms of the pressure evolutions of $c$-$f$ hybridized electronic states in Ce and Yb compounds, in particular in terms of the electron-hole symmetry often considered between Ce and Yb compounds., Comment: 20 pages, 6 figures, accepted to Physical Review B

Kazuhiro Hara, Yasuhide Mizutani, Hitoshi Kodera, Masato Miyake, Yoshiki Yasuda, Sanae Ohara Department of Nephrology, Yokkaichi Social Insurance Hospital, Yokkaichi, Mie Prefecture, Japan Introduction: Several anemia guidelines for hemodialysis patients have recommended a target hemoglobin (Hb) range of 10–12 g/dL. However, maintaining Hb values continuously within a narrow target has been difficult, and there has been no generally accepted anemia management algorithm for hemodialysis patients. Methods: In our study, we created an anemia management algorithm that considers the length of erythrocyte lifetimes, focuses on the combination of erythropoiesis-stimulating agent management and iron administration, and prevents iron deficiency and overload. Our algorithm established a target Hb range of 10–12 g/dL. Results: We evaluated our algorithm in 49 patients for 6 months. The mean Hb values were approximately 11 g/dL during our study period. The percentage of patients in the target Hb range of 10–12 g/dL increased from 77.6% (38 of 49) at baseline to 85.7% (42 of 49) at 4–6 months. Throughout monthly regular blood tests during 1–6 months after we introduced our algorithm, Hb values remained within the target range in 55.1% (27 of 49) of patients. The standard deviation of Hb values significantly decreased at 5 and 6 months (P=0.013 and P=0.047, respectively; 1 g/dL at 0 month, 0.7 g/dL at 5 months, and 0.7 g/dL at 6 months). Our algorithm also succeeded in suppressing cumulative doses of iron (≤800 mg) and decreasing the ferritin values significantly (P=0.011). There were no significant differences in erythropoiesis-stimulating agent doses between 0 and 6 months (P=0.357). Conclusion: Our anemia management algorithm successfully increased the number of patients in the target Hb range, significantly decreased the Hb standard deviation, suppressed cumulative doses of iron, and decreased ferritin values. These results suggest a better prognosis for hemodialysis patients. Further studies are required to evaluate our algorithm. Keywords: erythropoiesis-stimulating agent, hemoglobin, iron, hemoglobin standard deviation, target hemoglobin range, ferritin

Trabajo presentado al International Workshop on Multipole Physics and Related Phenomena (J-Physics), celebrado en Hachimantai, Iwate (Japón) del 24 al 28 de septiemb, This work was supported by JSPS KAKENHI Grant Number 25220803, 25390139, 26108719, 15H03680, 15H05885, 15H05886, 16KK0102, 17H02912, 17H02767, and 17H02815. JC acknowledges the Grant Number MAT2015-68200-C2-2-P from the Spanish Ministry of Economy and Competitiveness.

We describe here experiments which demonstrate the selective phospho-transfer from a plausibly prebiotic condensed phosphorus (P) salt, pyrophosphite [H2P2O52−; PPi(III)], to the phosphate group of 5′-adenosine mono phosphate (5′-AMP). We show further that this P-transfer process is accelerated both by divalent metal ions (M2+) and by organic co-factors such as acetate (AcO−). In this specific case of P-transfer from PPi(III) to 5′-AMP, we show a synergistic enhancement of transfer in the combined presence of M2+ & AcO−. Isotopic labelling studies demonstrate that hydrolysis of the phosphonylated 5′-AMP, [P(III)P(V)-5′-AMP], proceeds via nuceophilic attack of water at the Pi(III) terminus.

We report the heat capacity and magnetic properties of single crystals of YbPd2Si2 grown from Sn flux. YbPd2Si2 is a non magnetic heavy fermion compound with electronic specific heat coefficient γ = 95 mJ/mol K2 and Pauli paramagnetic susceptibility χ0 0.0115 emu/mol. The density of states of single crystal YbPd2Si2 is approximately half that of polycrystalline YbPd2Si2 while the strength of the Kondo effect in the single crystal is approximately twice that of poly crystal.

[Abstract] Chaotic features detected in the arrival time series of cosmic ray air showers are rediscussed. Chaotic series of air showers observed in the same time period among distant observing sites cannot be explained by the hypothesis of stochastic noise mixture proposed by the Torino group.

We fabricate a saturable absorber mirror by coating a graphene film on an output coupler mirror. This is then used to obtain Q-switched mode-locking from a diode pumped linear cavity waveguide laser inscribed in Ytterbium-doped Bismuthate Glass, with high slope and optical conversion efficiencies. The laser produces mode-locked pulses at 1039nm, with 1.5GHz repetition rate at an average 202mW output power. This performance is due to the combination of the graphene saturable absorber with the high quality laser glass.

To evaluate the suitability of ash application to agricultural fields and forest sites, the leaching characteristics of wood pellet ashes were studied for 11 types of ashes originating from the combustion of five types of Japanese wood pellets with two types of combustors (stoves and muffle furnaces). The ash leachate showed high K and Na concentrations and a high pH value, which indicates that the biomass ash acts as a source of base cations, raising the soil pH (an alternative to lime). As for the trace elements, the concentrations of B and Cr were generally higher than the others. Most of chromium in the leachate existed as Cr (VI). Based on a comparison of the element concentration between the stove and muffle furnace ashes originating from the same fuels, contamination in the combustion process was suggested for Cr, Zn and Cu. These results indicate that wood pellet ashes have higher potential as a fertilizer but that some improvement may be necessary for the combustion system to produce more environmentally-friendly ashes., Proceedings of the 19th European Biomass Conference and Exhibition, 6-10 June 2011, Berlin, Germany, pp. 1836-1840

To upgrade conventional wood pellets, Japanese softwood and hardwood chips were torrefied at around 200 – 350oC, and pelletized. The characteristics of torrefied material/pellets such as their calorific value, grinding energy, pelletizing energy and elemental composition, were also evaluated in this study. The calorific value, which increased with rising torrefaction temperature, exceeded 25MJ/kg (representing an increase of nearly 40% compared to the untreated state) for torrefaction at around 350oC. The grinding energy decreased with increasing torrefaction temperature, and the reduction effect was larger for Japanese oak hardwood chips. The pelletarization energy for the torrefied material tended to be slightly smaller than in the untreated case. Elemental analysis revealed that a decrease in the atomic ratio of H/C and O/C was observed for torrefied pellets., Proceedings of the 19th European Biomass Conference and Exhibition, 6-10 June 2011, Berlin, Germany, pp. 2015-2018

Upgraded wood pellets (Hyper wood pellets) were produced and evaluated by torrefaction of wood pellets. In this study, conventional wood pellets were initially prepared and subsequently torrefied on a laboratory and then larger scale. During the laboratory scale production, a few kilograms of pellets from wooden parts of Japanese cedar (Cryptomeria japonica) and Japanese oak (Konara, Quercus serrata) trees were heat treated in an inert gas oven. For the Japanese cedar, the calorific values were improved by heat treatment up to 260oC. By heat treatment at 240oC, the upgrade ratio of HHV was nearly 30% and the energy yield was 97%. For the Japanese oak, the calorific values were improved by heat treatment up to 320oC. By heat treatment at 280oC, the upgrade ratio of HHV exceeded 30% and the energy yield was 84%. On a larger scale, a conventional charcoal oven was modified for Hyper wood pellet production, meaning Hyper wood pellet with 25 MJ of calorific value were produced during heat treatment at 350oC., Proceedings of the 19th European Biomass Conference and Exhibition, 6-10 June 2011, Berlin, Germany, pp. 2019-2021

We report electrical resistivity, ac magnetic susceptibility and X-ray absorption spectroscopy measurements of intermediate valence YbNi$_{3}$Ga$_{9}$ under pressure and magnetic field. We have revealed a characteristic pressure-induced Yb valence crossover within the temperature-pressure phase diagram, and a first-order metamagnetic transition is found below $P_{\rm c}$ $\sim$ 9 GPa where the system undergoes a pressure-induced antiferromagnetic transition. As a possible origin of the metamagnetic behavior, a critical valence fluctuation emerging near the critical point of the first-order valence transition is discussed on the basis of the temperature-field-pressure phase diagram., 5 pages, 4 figures, accepted for publication in Phys. Rev. Lett

Characteristics of ion acceleration in the internal magnetic reconnection events (IRE) have been studied by means of a neutral particle energy analyzer (NPA) in Tokyo Spherical Tokamak (TST-2). The major and minor radii are 0.38 m and 0.25m, respectively. The magnetic field strength is 0.3T and the maximum plasma current is up to 140 kA. The electron and ion temperatures are 0.4-0.5 keV and 0.1 keV, respectively and the electron density is ~1x1019 m-3. The NPA can be scanned toroidally from q = 74° (cw) to q = 114° (ccw), where q = 90° corresponds to the perpendicular sightline. The direction of the plasma current is cw. The NPA signals are digitized at every 50 ms. The NPA is calibrated in the energy range of 0.1 keV < E < 8.4 keV. When the IRE occurs, it is observed that the plasma current increases by ~ 20% and the loop voltage drops from 0.6 V to-5 V for ~ 0.1 ms. The enhanced charge exchange flux is observed by more than one order of magnitude at ~ 1 keV for this reconnection phase. The ion temperature increases by 80 eV at IREs. The angle q dependence of increment of Ti shows that DTi (q = 74°) is higher than that for q = 114°. This observation suggests that an ion is accelerated initially in the direction of magnetic field lines. The time evolution of the ion distribution function is simulated with a Fokker-Planck code taking into account the electric field effects., Comment: 12th International Congress on Plasma Physics, 25-29 October 2004, Nice (France)

Helicobacter pylori (HP) infection, a cause of multifocal atrophic gastritis, is considered an important factor related to the evolution of the human gastric mucosa from normal to intestinal-type adenocarcinoma. We examined cell proliferation and both double and single strand DNA damage in situ in 35 patients undergoing gastrectomy for adenocarcinoma with HP-infected gastric mucosa by immunolocalization of Ki-67, terminal deoxynucleotidyl transferase-mediated dUTP-biotin nick end labeling, and in situ nick translation. We also studied the distribution of intraepithelial neutrophils by elastase immunolocalization. HP infection was confirmed in all cases by serum anti-HP antibodies, ureas testing, and histopathological examination. HP-infected gastric mucosa was classified according to the degree of inflammation and intestinal metaplasia. Ki-67, terminal deoxynucleotidyl transferase-mediated labeling, in situ nick translation, and intraepithelial neutrophil indices all increased with the progression of gastritis and were highest in glands with incomplete intestinal metaplasia. All indices were lowest in gastric glands with complete intestinal metaplasia. Significant positive correlations were observed among these markers. Increased proliferative activity in HP-associated chronic gastritis in response to cell damage or injury was clearly demonstrated, suggesting that both HP-associated toxins and intraepithelial neutrophils are important in HP-related gastric epithelial injury. Increased cell turnover associated with incomplete intestinal metaplasia may result in DNA instability and subsequent development of intestinal-type gastric adenocarcinoma in HP-infected mucosa.

Topoisomerase II (topo II) separates chromosomes at the end of mitosis and is also the target for various chemotherapeutic agents. Expression of this enzyme has been demonstrated to increase rapidly at the end of the S to G2/M phase and decrease after the completion of mitosis. We immunolocalized topo II in specimens of both normal and neoplastic human gastric mucosas to evaluate expression of this enzyme. Three different antibodies were used for the immunostaining of topo II (anti-topo II alpha isoform, anti-topo II beta isoform and anti-topo II alpha and -beta isoforms). There were no significant differences in topo II labeling index (LI) between frozen and paraffin-embedded tissue sections obtained from the same cases. Topo II LI was significantly correlated with Ki67 LI in all of the specimens examined. The area of cells positive for Topo II was much narrower than that of Ki67 in the normal gastric glands, and the pattern of Topo II immunolocalization in both adenomas and adenocarcinomas was also essentially the same as that of Ki67. The topo II LI values (positive cells/1000 cells) for normal gastric gland, adenoma, intestinal-type adenocarcinoma, and diffuse-type adenocarcinoma were 114.7 +/- 2.2, 266.7 +/- 18.8, 277.6 +/- 19.2, and 324.5 +/- 5.3, respectively. Significant differences in topo II LI and topo II/Ki67 index were observed between normal and neoplastic mucosas (P < 0.0001) and between adenomas or intestinal-type adenocarcinoma and diffuse-type adenocarcinoma (P < 0.001 and P < 0.01, respectively). Simultaneous measurement of topo II alpha and nuclear DNA content by two-parameter flow cytometry revealed that the Jurkat cell line established from acute lymphocytic leukemia cells expressed the enzyme in cells at other than S and G2/M phases of the cell cycle whereas topo-II alpha-positive cells were predominantly observed in S and G2/M phases of the cell cycle in the cells from normal lymph nodes. These findings suggest that dys-regulation or qualitative changes of topo II alpha expression are associated with malignancy. Topo II immunostaining can thus detect proliferating cells in routinely processed tissue sections and can indicate the altered topo II alpha expression in human cancers, which may be related to the sensitivity to topo-II-targeted chemotherapeutic agents.

Rapidly progressive skin necrosis involving large areas of the skin associated with extensive vascular calcification was observed in a 39-year-old male patient on chronic hemodialysis. Histological examination of the periphery of a skin ulcer showed that subepidermal arterioles were occluded with fibrin deposits and that calcification was demonstrated in subcutaneous small arteries and arterioles. Electron microscopically, electron-dense materials, granular, crystal-like, vacuolar, or laminated, were found not only in arterial walls of the periphery of an ulcer but also, to a lesser extent, in those of normal-appearing skin. The skin necrosis gradually healed with antiseptic topical treatments and the injection of recombinant erythropoietin. The relationship between the vascular lesions in hemodialysis patients and progressive skin necrosis is not well known, although a combination of local and systemic factors may play an important role in the development of vascular calcification and skin necrosis in uremic and hemodialysis patients.

The significance of two types of vascular invasion (macroscopic tumor thrombus into the renal vein or vena cava inferior and microvascular invasion) as prognostic factors in renal cell carcinoma is analyzed in 121 patients treated at the Department of Urology, Nara Medical University. The data indicate there to be close correlations between tumor thrombus, microvascular invasion and distant metastasis. In patients with tumor thrombus, however, the prognosis is not as poor when surgical removal of the tumor thrombus is successfully performed as when it is not. In contrast, the prognosis of patients with positive microvascular invasion is significantly worse than that of those with a negative finding. Microvascular invasion appears to be a significant prognostic factor in renal cell carcinoma in addition to well-known factors such as tumor stage, tumor grade, tumor thrombus and distant metastasis. To detect microvascular invasion, the histological examination should be extended to give as much detail as possible.

To examine effects of bestatin on the host immunity of patients with urogenital cancer, 54 patients were randomized into 2 groups: bestatin treated and controls. In each group, the patients were divided into 2 subgroups: one which received basic treatment expected to greatly affect host immunity ('invasive treatment') while the other one received other types of basic treatment ('non-invasive treatment'). Peripheral lymphocyte, OKT 4/8 ratio and purified protein derivative (PPD) skin reaction were used as immunological markers. There were significant differences in the 'invasive' treatment group between bestatin treated patients and controls concerning lymphocyte counts and PPD skin reactions and in the 'non-invasive' group concerning lymphocyte counts and OKT 4/8 ratios. These results suggest that bestatin may potentiate host immunity in patients with urogenital cancer. Further studies on larger materials are, however, needed before more definite conclusions can be drawn.

Bladder tumors induced by BBN in rats and dogs were useful for the clinical studies of human urinary bladder tumors and experimental chemotherapy. 5-FU, FT-207, CQ, VCR and CDDP were effective as single agents; and, the combination of FT-207 and OK-432, FT-207, ADM and OK-432, and, VCR, BLM and ADM were effective in significantly inhibiting the development of bladder tumors induced by BBN in Wistar rats. In clinical cases, the administration of FT-207, bladder instillation of an anticancer drug, and pre-operative intra-arterial infusion of MMC in addition to bladder instillation were prophylactic for the recurrence of the superficial urinary bladder cancers significantly within one year after operation. ADM, CDDP and radiation were effective regimens for advanced urinary bladder cancers. Multidisciplinary treatment was useful in treating advanced urinary bladder cancers.

Quantitative changes of gastric mucosal glycoproteins with the gastric damage induced by acetylsalicylic acid (aspirin) in rat have been studied. Gastric injury was easily observed macroscopically within one hour after the oral administration of aspirin. The most striking changes occurred at five hours, and the injury was overcome within nine hours after dosing. The glycoproteins extracted from rat stomack with Tris buffer containing Triton X-100 were fractionated on Bio-Gel A-1.5 m column chromatography and divided into three fractions. The first peak, corresponding to gastric mucus macromolecular neutral and acidic glycoproteins with or without sulphate (Fr.I), was diminished after aspirin administration. A considerable alteration of Fr.I (49% of control) appeared at three hours, and a gradual return to the control value was observed subsequently. The changes in the amount of the glycoproteins were detected before the macroscopical changes of the mucosa. These results suggest that gastric ulceration induced by aspirin may be caused by a deficiency of gastric mucus macromolecular glycoproteins of gastric mucus.

A distinctive angiographic appearance is described in a case of "criss-cross" heart with concordant atrioventriculo-arterial connections. The atrial situs was normal, and the morphological right ventricle was superior to the left ventricle, and the ventricular septum was horizontal in position. Both ventricleswere connected by a small ventricular septal defect. The aorta was situated anteriorly and to the right of the pulmonary artery. Although the cardiac segment was the apparent [S,L,D] type, the heart had conconrdant atrioventriculo-arterial connections. The ventricular rotation of the solitus heart about the longitudinal and the anteroposterior axis affected the atrioventricular flows, the plane of the ventricular septum, the inflow and outflow tracts of the ventricles, the interrelationship of the great arteries, and the course of the left coronary artery. Using the recent definition of criss-cross heart, we classified the heart as solitus-concordant (l-rotated) -normal.

A total of 130 primary cases with superficial bladder cancer were entered in the prospective randomized group study. The prophylactic treatments compared consisted in intravesical instillation of adriamycin (20 mg/-40 ml or 30 mg/30 ml), mitomycin C (20 mg/40 ml) or thio-TEPA (30 mg/30 ml), and noninstillation treatments with etretinate or tegafur; control patients were also studied. All agents were administered for 2 years. Recurrences were significantly suppressed in the instillation groups compared with control and non-instillation groups. Significant suppression of recurrence was observed in stage 1 or grade 2 disease treated with prophylactic instillation administered over the first 24 months of a 48-month observation period. These results may indicate the clinical usefulness of prophylactic instillation, but the long-term effect of intravesical instillation is still uncertain. A long-term follow-up study is therefore necessary.