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BACKGROUND: Organic acids on the surface of human hands contribute to the barrier against transient pathogens. This is the first study to explore the synergistic contribution of lactic acid and other hand environment-related features on the antibacterial properties of the hand surface. MATERIALS AND METHODS: We estimated the contribution of fingerprint depth, skin pH, stratum corneum water content, skin temperature, and sweat rate of the hands to the infection barrier using an observational survey of 105 subjects. The relationship between each factor and the antibacterial activity of the hands was analyzed using Pearson's correlation coefficient. We performed molecular dynamics simulations to study the interaction between lactic acid and bacterial membranes. RESULTS: The amount of lactic acid on the hands and skin temperature contributed positively to the antimicrobial activity (r = 0.437 and P = 3.18 × 10-6 , r = 0.500 and P = 5.66 × 10-8 , respectively), while the skin pH contributed negatively (r = -0.471, P = 3.99 × 10-7 ). The predicted value of the combined antimicrobial effect of these parameters was [antimicrobial activity] = 0.21 × [lactic acid] - 0.25 × [skin pH] + 0.26 × [skin temperature] + 0.98. The coefficient of determination (R2 ) was 0.50. CONCLUSION: The increase in the amount of non-ionic lactic acid due to lower pH and improvement in the fluidity of the cell membrane due to higher temperatures enable the efficient transport of lactic acid into cells and subsequent antimicrobial activity. The proposed mechanism could help to develop an effective hand infection barrier technology.

Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19), caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), has contributed to significant morbidity and mortality globally. Despite prior findings detecting SARS-CoV-2 genes on environmental surfaces, little research has examined the role of environmental viruses on disease spread. Thus, the present study examined the SARS-CoV-2 contamination in the hospital setting. In the study, 14 sites in the hospital room and one site on the back of nurses’ scrubs were sampled for virus detection. Of the 134 collected samples, 66 were positive for viral RNA (49.3%). Viral RNA detection rates were highest for samples obtained from patients’ masks and pajamas, and the likelihood of viral positivity decreased with increasing distance from the patient’s mouth. Meanwhile, SARS-CoV-2 was detected at sites distant from the patient’s mouth, including the shower room and patient room doorknobs, indicating the potential for the virus to spread through hand contact by infected patients. In addition, infectious virus was detected in 3 samples (2.2%). To our knowledge, this is the first report of SARS-CoV-2, which retain infectious, detected on environmental surfaces. Our findings illustrated the need for frequent cleaning of surfaces to prevent the in-hospital spread of COVID-19.

The compact model of HIroshima-University Starc Igfet Model (HiSIM)_GaN for GaN-HEMT devices is reported, which solves the Poisson equation iteratively, in a similar way as the industry-standard compact HiSIM models for other semiconductor devices. The model considers all possible charges induced within the device, including the dynamically varying trap density. It is verified that the model can reproduce the 2-D-device simulation results accurately. In particular, the operation frequency dependence of the current collapse can also be captured correctly based on the trap time constant.

Although the surface of hands in humans is known to harbor high levels of antimicrobial activity, reports investigating the relationship between antimicrobial activity and morbidity in infectious diseases are lacking. Additionally, the precise components involved in this activity are not known. Therefore, in this study, a method was developed to quantitatively measure the antimicrobial activity of the components found on the surface of hands, which was then compared with the medical history of the participants for infectious diseases. As a result, the antimicrobial activity of the surface of the hands was found to be positively associated with the history of infection in individuals. Furthermore, a comprehensive analysis of the components on the surface of hands indicated that organic acids and antimicrobial peptides are highly correlated with antimicrobial activity. The high amounts of lactic acid found on the surface of hands suggested it is an important factor in the hand surface infection barrier. Here we showed that the application of lactic acid within the range of the amounts present on the hand surface was found to significantly improve the antimicrobial activity of the hands. Taken together, these results demonstrate that this new method can be used to quantify antimicrobial activity, which opens new avenues for the development of hand hygiene practices by enhancing the antimicrobial activity on the surface of hands using natural ingredients against pathogens.

It is well known that the surface roughness of metal substrates considerably influences the tribological properties of solid lubricants. In this study, the surfaces of metal substrates were modified by wet-blasting and polishing, and the lubrication performance of synthetic mica-organic intercalation compounds on these substrates was evaluated using an upsetting-ironing type tribometer. Wet-blasted substrates lubricated with synthetic mica exhibited the best anti-seizure ability, whereas a lubricated polished metal surface produced the worst results. Scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and energy dispersive X-ray spectrometry (EDS) revealed that concavities prepared by wet-blasting still remained on the ironed substrate surface, and the intercalated synthetic mica trapped in concavities was supplied to the flat areas as ironing advanced across the substrate surface. Furthermore, EDS and Fourier-transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR) analysis showed that intercalated synthetic mica extended on the ironed surface while releasing organic compounds from its interlayer spaces. As the ironing process continued to progress, the initial concavities gradually became shallow, but they did not completely flatten. Therefore, a roughened surface is more advantageous for achieving improved lubricity due to the continuous supply of solid lubricant from concavities to the flattened areas where seizure is likely to take place.

The existence of new vector-like quarks is often predicted by models of new physics beyond the Standard Model, and the development of discovery strategies at colliders is the object of an intense effort from the high-energy community. Our analysis aims at identifying the constraints on and peculiar signatures of simplified scenarios containing \textit{two} vector-like quark doublets mixing with \textit{any} of the SM quark generations. This scenario is a necessary ingredient of a broad class of theoretically motivated constructions. We focus on the two charge $2/3$ states $t_{1,2}^\prime$ that, due to their peculiar mixing patterns, feature new production and decay modes that are not searched for at the LHC: single production of the heavier state can dominate over the light one, while pair production via electroweak interactions overcomes the QCD one for masses at the TeV scale., Comment: 29 pages, 20 figures

We have earlier showed how the catalytic conversion of 1,2-propandiol to propanal using FSM-16 (#16 folded sheets of mesoporous materials) when molded by wet treatment proceeded more favorably than when using FSM-16 molded by pressurization, while no comparison using other typical acidic catalysts and no examination of the acidic properties of FSM-16 was carried out. In the present study, the conversion using FSM-16 molded by wet treatment and pressurization was compared with that obtained by using typical acidic catalysts such as SiW12O40/SiO2 and MCM-41 (#41 of Mobil Composition of Matter) together with amorphous SiO2. Among these catalysts, FSM-16 molded by wet treatment showed the most suitable catalytic activity. In order to examine the effect of the molding procedure for FSM-16 on its structural and acidic properties, FSM-16 molded by both methods was examined using NH3-TPD, in situ FT-IR using NH3 as a probe molecule, and Hammett indicators together with XRD and TEM. According to Zaitsev's rule, the present conversion should afford acetone rather than propanal, which indicates that it would proceed via hydro cracking. Therefore, the conversion of 1,2-propandiol using FSM-16 was also examined in the presence and absence of hydrogen. Furthermore, hydration reactions of 1- and 2-propanol when using FMS-16 were examined. Based on the results obtained from this investigation, it was concluded that the conversion using a more acidic FSM-16 molded by wet treatment proceeded through dehydration rather than through hydro cracking.

Ribosome biogenesis and turnover are processes necessary for cell viability and proliferation, and many kinds of proteins are known to regulate these processes. However, many questions still remain, especially in the Archaea. Generally, several ribonucleases are required to process precursor rRNAs to their mature forms, and to degrade rRNAs for quality control. Here, we found that FAU-1, which is known to be an RNA binding protein, possesses an RNase activity against precursor 5S rRNA derived from P. furiosus and T. kodakarensis in the order Thermococcales in vitro. An in vitro analysis revealed that UA sequences in the upstream of 5S rRNA were preferentially degraded by addition of FAU-1. Moreover, a fau-1 gene deletion mutant of T. kodakarensis showed a delay of exponential phase, reduction of maximum cell number and significant changes in the nucleotide sequence lengths of its 5S, 16S, and 23S rRNAs in early exponential phase. Our results suggest that FAU-1 is a potential RNase involved in rRNA stability through maturation and/or degradation processes.

The catalytic conversion of 1,2-propandiol to propanal is examined using FSM-16 particles (0.85－1.70 mm) molded by wet-treatment and pressurization. When FSM-16 was molded with 0.6 g of pressurization and supplied to the catalytic conversion of 1,2-propandiol at 673 K, this system resulted in a 94.8% conversion of 1,2-propandiol and 90.5% selectivity to propanal at 0.25 h on-stream, which was the maximum amount of activity. However, at 4.50 h on-stream, the activity decreased extremely to deactivation 19.9% conversion of 1,2-propandiol and 84.7% selectivity to propanal. In contrast, when FSM-16 molded with wet-treatment (0.15 g) was used for the conversion at 573 K, activity was greatly increased and stable 98.6% conversion of 1,2-propandiol and 56.2% selectivity to propanal at 0.25 h on-stream followed by 91.9% and 52.5%, respectively, at 4.50 h on-stream. The hexagonal structure of FSM-16 was suggested to have contributed to the suitable conversion of 1,2-propandiol to propanal.

In February 1947, the all-black 24th Infantry Regiment was relocated from Okinawa to mainland Japan to join the occupation forces of the U.S. Army as part of the 25th Infantry Division. The 24th Infantry Regiment was stationed at Camp Majestic in Gifu, which is located 270 miles southwest of Tokyo in central Japan. (1) It was there that African American soldiers, as representatives of the Allied occupation forces, would have their first extensive face-to-face contact with Japanese citizens. Ironically, African American occupation soldiers, whose major mission in Japan was to democratize the defeated nation and disseminate the values of freedom and equality among the Japanese population, served in a segregated U.S. Army. This essay examines the early postwar encounters of African American soldiers, many of whom served in the 24th Infantry Regiment, with Japanese citizens around Camp Gifu under U.S. military occupation during the period from 1947 to 1951. (2) African American GIs in Japan explored and enhanced the racial and gendered sense of justice, power, and identity within the boundaries of the privileged status that they enjoyed as members of the U.S. occupation forces as well as the racial discrimination that they encountered both in the U.S. Army and Japanese society after the end of the Second World War. The "trans-Pacific interaction" of the racial-sexual ideology and practices surrounding black masculinity were central to the formation of racial, gendered, and national subjectivities among African American GIs in occupied Japan. In seeking out eyewitness and other accounts, I consulted the oral history collection at the U.S. Army Center of Military History, major black newspapers and magazines, the NAACP papers, U.S. military records, and autobiographies and memoirs written by African American GIs and Japanese residents in the area around Camp Gifu. (3) This study illuminated how African American soldiers grappled with the terms of military occupation, race relations, national belonging, and gender/sexual norms in their encounters with the Japanese in Gifu. In occupied Gifu, African American soldiers reconsolidated, reconstructed, and complicated their sense of "American-ness," "blackness," and notions of masculinity through their daily personal encounters and exchanges with local Japanese women and men. The overseas military experience in Japan, the defeated "non-white nation" that African Americans had admired as their racial ally before the war, encouraged African American GIs to reconfigure their racial identity beyond the domestic context of racial oppression and discrimination found in the United States. African American soldiers, like white GIs, asserted and performed the "victorious" American masculinity in their romantic and sexual relationships with Japanese women by invoking influential U.S. orientalist representations of Japanese femininity. Some African American GIs further developed their fraternization with Japanese women into marriage and childbearing and confronted the institutional, organizational, and ideological barriers against interracial intimacy and sexuality in both Japan and the United States. This analysis is built upon the historiography of African American military experiences, African American-Japanese relationships, and the postwar U.S. military engagement in Japan. Most historical studies of the African American-Japanese relationship have investigated how black intellectual and political leaders forged interracial solidarity with the Japanese, or critiqued Japan's imperialist aggression in Asia within the parameters of the black global struggle against white supremacy, as well as the U.S.-Japanese relationship during the first half of the 20th century. (4) The centrality of race and nation as analytical categories in these earlier studies of the pre-war African American-Japanese relationship usually ignored the gender and sexual dynamics of the "trans-Pacific exchanges" between African Americans and the Japanese. …

構成：塚﨑朝子

Physics at the international linear collider (ILC) is described as an introductory talk at Linear Collider Workshop 2006 (LCWS06).

Mechanical loss (internal friction) in cubic zirconia was measured in the flexural mode in order to understand the local structure associated with oxygen vacancy. Polycrystal and single crystal with different orientation of longitudinal axis (〈100〉, 〈110〉, 〈111〉) were adopted from 8 mol.% Y2O3 stabilized zirconia (8Y-FSZ), which shows that the internal friction profile depends on crystal orientation. In the present study, furthermore, anelastic strain behavior was also investigated in the single crystal specimens. Anelastic strain productivity is also strongly dependent on crystal orientation like internal friction: 〈100〉 < 〈110〉 < 〈111〉. It is considered that the crystal orientation dependence of internal friction and anelasticity is closely correlated with the behavior of cation–oxygen vacancy complexes. Finally, the mechanism of anelasticity was discussed.

We study the lepton flavor violation in the supersymmetric seesaw model taking into account recent experimental improvements, especially for the Higgs boson mass measurement, direct searches of superpartners and the rare decay of B_s -> mu+ mu- at the LHC, the neutrino mixing angle of theta_{13} at the neutrino experiments, and the search of mu -> e gamma at the MEG experiment. We obtain the latest constraints on the parameters in the supersymmetry breaking terms and study the effect on the lepton flavor violating decays of tau -> mu gamma and mu -> e gamma. In particular, we consider two kinds of assumption on the structures in the Majorana mass matrix and the neutrino Yukawa matrix. In the case of the Majorana mass matrix proportional to the unit matrix, allowing non-vanishing CP violating parameters in the neutrino Yukawa matrix, we find that the branching ratio of tau -> mu gamma can be larger than 10^{-9} within the improved experimental limit of mu -> e gamma. We also consider the neutrino Yukawa matrix that includes the mixing only in the second and third generations, and find that a larger branching ratio of tau -> mu gamma than 10^{-9} is possible with satisfying the recent constraints., 25 pages, 7 figures

The ATLAS and CMS collaborations at the LHC have performed analyses on the existing data sets, studying the case of one vector-like fermion or multiplet coupling to the standard model Yukawa sector. In the near future, with more data available, these experimental collaborations will start to investigate more realistic cases. The presence of more than one extra vector-like multiplet is indeed a common situation in many extensions of the standard model. The interplay of these vector-like multiplet between precision electroweak bounds, flavour and collider phenomenology is a important question in view of establishing bounds or for the discovery of physics beyond the standard model. In this work we study the phenomenological consequences of the presence of two vector-like multiplets. We analyse the constraints on such scenarios from tree-level data and oblique corrections for the case of mixing to each of the SM generations. In the present work, we limit to scenarios with two top-like partners and no mixing in the down-sector., Comment: 50 pages, 38 figures, 6 tables

We study new physics effects on B decay processes including a final $\tau$ particle, namely $B \to D \tau \nu$ and $B \to \tau \nu$. An important feature of these processes is that a charged Higgs boson can contribute to the decay amplitude at the tree level in models such as Two Higgs Doublet Model and the Minimal Supersymmetric Standard Model (MSSM). We derive a resummed effective Lagrangian for charged-Higgs mediated interactions in the MSSM with the Minimal Flavor Violation. Including supersymmetric (SUSY) loop corrections for down-type-quark and charged-lepton Yukawa couplings, we calculate the branching ratios of the $B \to D \tau \nu$ and $B \to \tau \nu$ processes. We find that SUSY correction due to gluino-sbottom diagrams can change the Higgs exchange contribution by $\pm50$%, whereas stau-neutralino diagrams can make corrections up to 20%. We also discuss relationship between SUSY corrections in the tauonic decays and flavor changing neutral current processes such as $B_s \to \mu^+\mu^-$ and $b \to s \gamma$., Comment: 29 pages, 22 figures

Long-term histopathologic changes after bladder augmentation (BA) in rats using living-related partial bladder transplantation (LPBTx) or conventional ileocystoplasty (ICP) were compared. In this study, BA (n = 37), LPBTx (n = 18), and ICP (n = 19) were performed in 16-wk-old Lewis rats. Five donors and seven nontransplanted normal Lewis rats (controls) were also studied. Rats that survived >10 mo after BA were killed after blood biochemistry and neobladder imaging. Harvested bladders were examined with hematoxylin and eosin and proliferating cell nuclear antigen (PCNA). When the rats were killed, there were 16 rats in the LPBTx group and 12 rats in the ICP group; ICP rats were significantly smaller than LPBTx rats (p < 0.05). Mean duration of follow-up for the LPBTX group was 17.3 mo, for the ICP group was 13.7 mo, for the donor group was 16.1 mo, and for the control group was 19.7 mo. Mean serum pH in the LPBTx group was 7.41 ± 0.78 and in the ICP group was 7.25 ± 0.38. Mean base excess in the ICP group was significantly lower than in the LPBTx group (p < 0.05). Incidence of bladder calculi in the LPBTx group (6.3%) was significantly lower than in the ICP group (33.3%; p < 0.05). There was no dysplasia/malignancy/increase in PCNA in the LPBTx group. PCNA increased in the ICP group, compared with controls (p < 0.05); two (16.7%) of 12 of ICP rats had dysplasia with mitosis. Bladder capacity increased in LPBTx and ICP compared with controls (both p < 0.05). We hope to show that BA using LPBTx may result in a neobladder with fewer complications than BA using ICP; LPBTx may also decrease the risk for malignancy.

Nakada (1988) divided senile postural deformities into four types by visual observation: an extended type, an S-shaped type, a flexed type, and a hand-on-the-lap type. The purpose of this study was to investigate the inter-rater reliability and the discriminant validity of assessing the elderly spinal posture using a posture-measuring device developed by us and dividing postural deformities into the four types of Nakada's classification. Seventy-seven elderly persons (52 women and 25 men) who lived independently participated in the study. The average age of the subjects was 73 years (range, 65 to 84 years). The type of the senile postural deformity was determined by three judges using our posture-measuring device in combination with Nakada's classification. The rate of agreement of the classification was 92.2%. This method had a significantly high rate of inter-rater reliability. The thoracic kyphotic angle was larger in the S-shaped type than in the normal, extended type, and flexed type. The lumbar lordotic angle was also larger in the S-shaped type than in the extended type, flexed type, and hand-on-the-lap type. In the hand-on-the-lap type, the mean of the lumbar lordotic angle was much smaller. The lumbosacral angle was smaller in the extended type than in the normal, S-shaped type, and flexed type. With the analysis of x-ray photographs, this method appeared to have discriminant validity as a measure of senile postural deformity. The combination of our posture-measuring device and Nakada's classification would be useful to classify senile postural deformities in mass examinations.

The coherent μ–e conversion rate for general LFV interactions for various nuclei is calculated. The branching ratio increases for the light nuclei such as Z 30, is largest for Z = 30–60 and decreases for heavy nuclei with Z 60. Although this tendency of Z dependence is the same for different types of coupling constants, there are significant differences in Z dependence of branching ratios. The atomic number dependence of the conversion ratio calculated here is useful to distinguish theoretical models with lepton flavour violation.

Risk factors of urethral recurrence after neobladder in bladder cancer patients were studied. Between 1977 and 2001, 73 patients (male 58, female 15) underwent neobladder as a treatment for bladder cancer. The observation time after cystectomy ranged from 2 to 254 months (median 60.5). Ten (17.2%) of 58 male patients had urethral recurrence and of the 10, 8 patients had multiple bladder cancers including bladder neck. Urethral recurrence was found by macrohematuria, follow-up cystourethroscopy, and inguinal lymph node swelling. Only one who complained of macrohematuria had positive urinary cytology. Of 58 male patients, 5 underwent total nephroureterectomy for renal pelvic or ureteral cancer before radical cystectomy, and 3 of the 5 had urethral recurrence. Two of 10 patients with urethral recurrence died with cancer, and they had renal pelvic or ureteral cancer. The five-year cause specific survival was 83% for patients with urethral recurrence, and 79% for those without urethral recurrence, respectively. Urethral recurrence did not have a significant effect on survival. The patients with multiple bladder cancers including bladder neck, and renal pelvic or ureteral cancer before radical cystectomy, have high risks for urethral recurrence. Urinary cytology has limited value for the detection of urethral recurrence.

This article reviews the current theoretical and experimental status of the field of muon decay and its potential to search for new physics beyond the Standard Model. The importance of rare muon processes with lepton flavor violation is highly stressed, together with precision measurements of normal muon decay. Recent up-to-date motivations of lepton flavor violation based on supersymmetric models, in particular supersymmetric grand unified theories, are described along with other theoretical models. Future prospects of experiments and muon sources of high intensity for further progress in this field are also discussed., Comment: 109 pages, 37 postscript figures, uses REVTEX.sty

Le Fort I osteotomy has been established by many studies and is generally used, but hypoesthesia of the dental pulp, the most common complication, occurs in almost all patients. As such, we examined dental pulp sensibility, pulpal blood flow, and histological changes, to elucidate the process of functional recovery of dental pulp after Le Fort I osteotomy. Monkeys (Macaca fusucata) were used in this study. The animals underwent Le Fort I osteotomy in their unilateral maxillae. Histological and angiographic examinations were performed to observe the postoperative changes in the maxillae and dental pulp. Postoperative pulpal blood flow was examined using a laser Doppler flowmetry. Postoperative pulpal blood flow, by a laser Doppler flowmetry, and dental pulp sensibility, by electrodiagnostics, in patients who underwent Le Fort I osteotomy, were also examined. Although nerve fibers observed in the dental pulp of the maxilla degenerated and disappeared by one week postoperatively, they reappeared sparsely from two to three months after osteotomy, and there were abundant nerve fibers by one year postoperatively. In the angiographic examination, blood supply to the maxillary dental pulp was maintained throughout the postoperative period. In the examinations of laser Doppler flowmetry and dental pulp electrodiagnostics, ischemia in the dental pulp for three or four days after osteotomy might delay the recovery of dental pulp sensibility. These results suggested that blood flow in dental pulp at three or four days after surgery may affect the recovery of dental pulp sensibility.

To examine the role of total parenteral nutrition (TPN) in predisposing infants to infection caused by coagulase-negative staphylococci.Total parenteral nutrition is an important means of providing essential nutrients to newborn infants. However, its use has been associated with complications, particularly infection caused by coagulase-negative staphylococci. Recent data suggest that TPN may modulate immune function; however, reports directly indicating impaired immunity against coagulase-negative staphylococci during TPN are limited.Study 1 involved 31 infants younger than 4 months who had undergone surgery and were not receiving antibiotics; 20 were receiving TPN and 11 were receiving a normal enteral diet. An in vitro whole blood model was used to measure the host bactericidal activity against coagulase-negative staphylococci. Bacterial killing and phagocytosis were measured after a 45-minute challenge with viable coagulase-negative staphylococci. In study 2, whole blood killing and intracellular killing of coagulase-negative staphylococci were measured in five newborn infants (younger than 2 months) who were receiving long-term TPN (10 days), five control infants receiving a normal enteral diet, and five healthy adults.In study 1, infants receiving a normal enteral diet showed a high capacity to ingest and kill coagulase-negative staphylococci. In contrast, the blood of infants receiving long-term TPN showed a reduction in coagulase-negative staphylococci phagocytosis and killing. There were significant negative linear correlations between the duration of TPN and killing of coagulase-negative staphylococci and phagocytosis of coagulase-negative staphylococci. In study 2, infants receiving long-term TPN had lower whole blood killing and intracellular killing than infants receiving a normal enteral diet and healthy adult volunteers. These data seem to indicate a neutrophil dysfunction mediated by TPN in infancy.Host defense mechanisms, including phagocytosis and killing of coagulase-negative staphylococci, are impaired during long-term TPN. The impaired bactericidal activity seems to be related to defective intracellular killing in neutrophils. These findings may explain the high rate of septicemia caused by coagulase-negative staphylococci in infants receiving TPN.

The upper and the lower bounds of the lightest CP-even Higgs-boson mass ($m_h$) are discussed in the two-Higgs-doublet model (2HDM) with a softly-broken discrete symmetry. They are obtained as a function of a cut-off scale $\Lambda$ ($\leq 10^{19}$ GeV) by imposing the conditions in which the running coupling constants neither blow up nor fall down below $\Lambda$. In comparison with the standard model (SM), although the upper bound does not change very much, the lower bound is considerably reduced. In the decoupling regime where only one Higgs boson ($h$) becomes much lighter than the others, the lower bound is given, for example, by about 100 GeV for $\Lambda = 10^{19}$ GeV and $m_t = 175$ GeV, which is smaller by about 40 GeV than the corresponding lower bound in the SM. In generic cases, $m_h$ is no longer bounded from below by these conditions. If we consider the $b \to s \gamma$ constraint, small values of $m_h$ are excluded in Model II of the 2HDM., Comment: 13 pages, 5 figures, extend the analysis to the case without restriction among self-coupling constants. Conclusions unchanged. To appear in Phys. Lett. B

We investigate the effect of supersymmetric CP violating phases on the $B\to X_s \gamma$ and $B\to X_s l^+l^-$ decays in the minimal supergravity model. We show that the phase of the trilinear scalar coupling constant for top squarks is strongly suppressed and aligned to that of the gaugino mass due to a renormalization effect from the Planck scale to the electroweak scale. As a result, the effect of supersymmetric CP violating phases on the $B \to X_s \gamma$ and $B \to X_s l^+ l^-$ decays are small taking into account the neutron and the electron electric dipole moment constraints. For the $B \to X_s\gamma$ decay, the amplitude has almost no new CP violating phase and the direct CP asymmetry is less than 2 %. For the $B \to X_s l^+ l^-$ decay, the branching ratio can be sizably different from that in the standard model only when the sign of the $B \to X_s \gamma$ amplitude is opposite to that in the standard model.

Rare b decay processes are analyzed in the multi-Higgs doublet model. Taking account of the constraint from the b → s γ process, the branching ratio and the forward-backward asymmetry of the final leptons for the b → sl+l− process are calculated. It is shown that the branching ratio can be a few times larger than the standard model prediction and the asymmetry can be significantly different from that in the standard model. Combining these observable quantities it is possible to determine complex coupling constants associated with the charged Higgs mixing matrix. The CP violating charge asymmetry in the b → sl+l− process and the branching ratio of the b → sν ν process are also calculated.

Effects of serotonin (5-HT) on cerebral cortical neurons were examined by patch clamp techniques. 5-HT produced a variety of responses such as outward (19/73 patches/neurons), slow inward (15/73 patches/neurons), fast inward (8/73 patches/neurons), and mixed currents (initially fast inward deflection followed by an outward response: 2.73 patches/neurons), with a latency of 12 sec, 15 sec, 0 sec, and 0 sec respectively, at a holding potential of -60 mV in whole-cell patches. The fast inward currents were again evoked by a selective 5-HT3 receptor agonist, 1-(m-chlorophenyl)-biguanide hydrochloride (CPBG). In the cell-attached patch clamp configuration, 5-HT inside the patch pipette elicited single channel currents with slope conductances of 42 pS and 132 pS (4/42 patches/neurons). CPBG inside the patch pipette evoked inward single channel currents with a lower slope conductance of 41 pS (3/23 patches/neurons). In contrast, application of 5-HT or a 5-HT2 receptor agonist, alpha-methyl-5-hydroxytryptamine-maleate, outside the patch pipette induced outward single channel currents with a major slope conductance of 140 pS (8/30 patches/neurons) or 135 pS (6/20 patches neurons), respectively. These results indicate that the outward and fast inward currents may be mediated respectively by the 5-HT2 receptor, which is coupled to a G-protein, and by the 5-HT3 receptor, which contains the non-selective cation channel, and that the mixed type may be caused by both the 5-HT2 and 5-HT3 receptors.

前回の報告において我々は,らせんCTによる平静呼吸下スキャンでの病変検出能について可動模擬病巣ファントムを用いた基礎的な検討を行った。この中で,呼吸性往復運動を正弦波運動に近似した模擬病巣のスライスプロフィールは,ガントリーと模擬病巣の交差位相に依存することを推定した。そこで今回,ガントリー位置検出器を新たに製作し,この仮定に対する実験的な検討を行った。またこれらの実験は,1回転あたりのスキャン時間,テーブル移動速度及び管電流値が異なる3機種のらせんCTについて行い,等速直線運動時および正弦波状往復運動時の模擬病巣の検出能に関する検討を行った。その結果,正弦波状往復運動時のスライスプロフィールは,ガントリーと模擬病巣の交差位相に依存することを確認した。また,平静呼吸下スキャンでは,1回転あたりのスキャン時間が1秒でテーブル移動速度が20㎜/sの時,模擬病巣の検出能が最も優れていた。, In the previous report, we made a basic examination of the focus detectability during relaxed state of respiration by using a movable dummy focus phantom. In the report, we had suggested that the slice profile moving with a sinewave depended on the phase of position between gantry and dummy focus phantom.Therefore, we produced a detector of gantry position, and experimented this relationship. And, we experimented the detectability of a dummy focus phantom traveling with linear and sine-wave motion on the three Spiral Volumetric CTs which had different scanning time of one rotation, traveling velocity of a bed, and value of the tube current in each factor. In this result, we made sure that the slice profile moving with a sine-wave motion depended on the phase of positions between gantry and dummy focus phantom. And, under relaxed state of respiration, the detectability of a dummy focus phantom was most excellent when the scanning time of one rotation was 1 s and the moving velocity of a bed was 20 mm/s.

Hosomi, Hidenobu, Masahiro Mori, Mutsuo Amatsu, and Yasuhiro Okada. GABA-activated conductance in cultured rat inferior colliculus neurons. J. Neurophysiol. 77: 994–1002, 1997. With the use of a whole cell voltage-clamp technique and fura-2 fluorescence measurements, the actions of γ-aminobutyric acid (GABA) on cultured neurons from rat inferior colliculus were investigated. GABA (10–1,000 μM) induced currents in neurons held under voltage clamp that were inhibited by bicuculline (20 μM). Muscimol (100 μM) also evoked the currents, whereas baclofen (100 μM) affected neither the holding currents nor K+conductance due to depolarizing pulses. The current density–voltage relation of GABA-induced currents, with equal concentrations of Cl−in the internal and external solutions, reversed near 0 mV. Reduction of the internal Cl−concentration shifted the reversal potential in the negative direction as predicted from the Cl−equilibrium potential. Baclofen did not affect Ca2+conductance due to depolarizing pulses. The extracellular application of 150 mM KCl or 1.0 mM glutamate increased the intracellular Ca2+concentration ([Ca2+]i) of cultured inferior colliculus neurons only when neurons were bathed in a Ca2+-containing external solution. However, GABA (1.0 mM) failed to increase [Ca2+]iat all concentrations of external Ca2+used, indicating that GABA neither depolarized the cultured inferior colliculus neurons sufficiently to activate the voltage-dependent Ca2+conductances nor evoked Ca2+release from intracellular stores. These results suggest that in cultured rat inferior colliculus neurons, GABAAreceptor channels may be predominantly responsible for the membrane conductance evoked by GABA and subsequent hyperpolarization of the neurons.

Changes in preoperative and postoperative temporomandibular joint (TMJ) symptoms in patients with prognathism who underwent sagittal split ramus osteotomy (SSRO) of the mandible, including repositioning of the proximal segment and titanium screw fixation, were evaluated. Symptoms (sounds and pain) of the TMJ were checked preoperatively and 3, 6, 12 (1 year), and 24 (2 years) months after surgery. As of 1 or 2 years after surgety, TMJ sounds had resolved in about 70% of the patients with preoperative joint sounds. As of 6 months after the operation, joint pain had also resolved in all patients who had this sympotom preoperatively. On the other hand, joint symptoms developed in only about 5% of the patients who had no preoperative joint symptoms as of 1 or 2 years after surgery. In conclusion, the results of this study suggest that most of the preoperative TMJ symptoms in patients with prognathism resolve after SSRO with repositioning of the proximal segment and titanium screw fixation, although the preoperative condylar position should be maintained.

A search for the lepton-flavor violating $\mu^{+}\rightarrow e^{+}\gamma$ decay using polarized muons is proposed. By measuring the angular distribution of $e^{+}$s with respect to the muon spin direction, in particular antiparallel $e^{+}$s, the serious physics background from $\mu^{+}\rightarrow e^{+}\nu\overline{\nu}\gamma$ as well as accidental background from normal muon decay accompanied by a high-energy photon can be suppressed significantly. In addition to the enhancement of the sensitivity, the angular distribution would discriminate among different extensions to the Standard Model, once the signal is observed.

We present a framework to analyze the effects of new physics beyond the standard model on $B\ensuremath{-}\overline{B}$ mixing and $\mathrm{CP}$ violation in $B$ decays in a model-independent manner. Assuming that the tree level decay amplitudes are dominated by the standard model ones, new physics contributions to $B\ensuremath{-}\overline{B}$ mixing can be extracted from several measurements at $B$ factories. Using this framework, we show the present constraint on new physics contributions to $B\ensuremath{-}\overline{B}$ mixing and illustrate the constraints expected to be given by future experiments at $B$ factories. We also point out the possibility that $\mathrm{CP}$ asymmetries in $B\ensuremath{\rightarrow}\ensuremath{\psi}{K}_{S}$, $B\ensuremath{\rightarrow}\ensuremath{\pi}\ensuremath{\pi}$, and $B\ensuremath{\rightarrow}\mathrm{DK}$ modes look consistent with the standard model, even if a large new physics contribution is present in $B\ensuremath{-}\overline{B}$ mixing.

1. Using a whole-cell voltage-clamp technique and fura-2 fluorescence measurements, the actions of extracellular adenosine 5'-triphosphate (ATP) in single cells of an epithelial cell line (A6), were investigated. 2. ATP (0.1-1000 microM) induced currents in cells held under voltage clamp. The sequence of purinergic agonist potency in activating the currents (2-methylthio ATP > adenosine 5'-diphosphate (ADP) > ATP > alpha, beta-methylene ATP) was consistent with that of P2y receptors. 3. Reversal potentials (Erev) of the currents under various ionic conditions suggest that potassium channels and non-selective cation channels were responsible for the ATP-activated conductance, which was permeable to calcium. 4. ATP activated the currents in a calcium-free extracellular solution. In the presence of extracellular calcium, the currents were completely inhibited with 10 mM EGTA in the pipette. 5. ATP (10 microM) increased the intracellular calcium concentration ([Ca2+]i) whether cells were bathed in a solution containing calcium or not. 6. These results indicate that ATP evoked a calcium-dependent cation conductance, permeable to calcium, through P2y receptors by releasing calcium from intracellular stores in A6 cells.

運動練習が及ぼす，Open Taskの性質を持った多関節運動パターンの変化の構造を分析する事を目的に，標的志向運動課題についての運動練習を通した運動学的変数の変化を観察，検討した。4名の健常男性を対象に投球動作の手関節および肘関節における矢状面上の関節角度変化および筋活動を測定した。肘関節と手関節の協調を示す変数の標準偏差は運動練習により低下した。また，手関節と肘関節の運動範囲および運動速度は運動練習により増大した。肘関節と手関節問の変数の相関は運動練習を通して運動速度で増加し，運動範囲で減少した。しかし，各変数の変化は個体間，変数間，関節間で多様な傾向を示し，投球動作時の運動パターン変化の一般的傾向を結論することは困難であった。