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Osteoarthritis (OA) is the most common degenerative disease affecting the hip (hip OA). It is characterized by symptoms such as stiffness and pain, and results in restricted range of motion, cartilage destruction, decreased joint space width, and reduction in activities and quality of life. However, there is no adequate conservative treatment for hip OA. One of the key factors for managing hip OA is unloading or distracting the joint with traction force. Joint distraction with a surgical procedure has been used to treat OA, mostly in the knee and the ankle joints, and the effects of joint distraction on joint structure and clinical symptoms have been reported. Here, we briefly review OA and then discuss the potential benefit of distraction of the hip joint in management of OA, focusing on conservative methods.

A 30-year meteorological station and reanalysis datasets revealed that the frequency and intensity of hot extremes have increased dramatically around Mongolia since the late 1990s. Many recent heat waves (HWs) were triggered by atmospheric forcing with a mid-tropospheric ridge pattern which appears frequently around Mongolia in 2000s. An observational data analysis for each HW event indicates that the rate of temperature increase at the beginning stage of HW is sensitive to the soil moisture condition. Therefore, it is suggested that the recent drier soil conditions played a role in enhancing the frequency and intensity of HWs and localization around Mongolia.

Accurate calculation of leaf area index (LAI) in boreal forests, which are vulnerable to climate change and have insufficient ground-truth data, is an important but challenging task when evaluating the spatio-temporal variability of ecosystem structures and functions (photosynthesis and evapotranspiration). By applying a direct method, we calculated the LAI of multiple forest layers (i.e., overstory of larch; understory of birch, willow, and alder; and floor vegetation) in a deciduous needle-leaf forest with a somewhat open canopy in eastern Siberia. We performed field studies that included logging one overstory larch tree, harvesting leaves of larch and floor vegetation (e.g., Vaccinium vitis-idaea), sampling leaves of understory trees, and measuring the architecture and morphology of overstory and understory trees and leaves. The plot-scale LAIs of larch overstory, understory trees, and floor vegetation were 1.30, 0.50, and 0.51, respectively, for a total of 2.31. Sum of our plot-scale LAI of larch overstory and understory trees was similar to previously reported results based on indirect methods. Our results indicate that LAI of understory trees and forest floor vegetation is important to improve the accuracy of total LAI of a deciduous needle-leaf forest with a somewhat open canopy in eastern Siberia.

Renal cell carcinoma (RCC) is a malignant tumor that currently lacks clinically useful biomarkers indicative of early diagnosis or disease status. RCC has commonly been diagnosed based on imaging results. Metabolomics offers a potential technology for discovering biomarkers and therapeutic targets by comprehensive screening of metabolites from patients with various cancers. We aimed to identify metabolites associated with early diagnosis and clinicopathological factors in RCC using global metabolomics (G-Met). Tumor and nontumor tissues were sampled from 20 cases of surgically resected clear cell RCC. G-Met was performed by liquid chromatography mass spectrometry and important metabolites specific to RCC were analyzed by multivariate statistical analysis for cancer diagnostic ability based on area under the curve (AUC) and clinicopathological factors (tumor volume, pathological T stage, Fuhrman grade, presence of coagulation necrosis and distant metastasis). We identified 58 metabolites showing significantly increased levels in tumor tissues, 34 of which showed potential early diagnostic ability (AUC >0.8), but 24 did not discriminate between tumor and nontumor tissues (AUC ≤0.8). We recognized 6 pathways from 9 metabolites with AUC >0.8 and 7 pathways from 10 metabolites with AUC ≤0.8 about malignant status. Clinicopathological factors involving malignant status correlated significantly with metabolites showing AUC ≤0.8 (p = 0.0279). The tricarboxylic acid cycle (TCA) cycle, TCA cycle intermediates, nucleotide sugar pathway and inositol pathway were characteristic pathways for the malignant status of RCC. In conclusion, our study found that metabolites and their pathways allowed discrimination between early diagnosis and malignant status in RCC according to our G-Met protocol.

Objectives To determine whether penile blood pressure (PBP) can be used to identify patients who can benefit from tadalafil treatment, the correlation between PBP at baseline and changes in lower urinary tract symptoms (LUTS) induced by tadalafil treatment was studied prospectively. Patients and methods Patients with BPH who were poor responders to α1 -blockers and took tadalafil instead of an α1 -blocker were registered between 2014 and 2016. The patients were divided into two groups (low- and high-PBP groups) using the median baseline PBP of 110 mmHg as the threshold. The changes in the International Prostate Symptom Score (IPSS) between before and at 4 and 12 weeks after tadalafil treatment were compared between the low- and high-PBP groups. Multivariate analysis was performed to identify parameters associated with IPSS improvement with tadalafil treatment. Results In all, 51 patients were investigated. The IPSS in the low-PBP group decreased immediately after the start of treatment, and there was significant improvement in the IPSS from baseline at 4 and 12 weeks after the start of treatment, whilst the IPSS in the high-PBP group did not show significant changes. On multivariate analysis, PBP at baseline, anticholinergic drug use, and IPSS at baseline were significant predictors of a good IPSS response to tadalafil treatment. Conclusions This study demonstrated that PBP could reliably identify patients with BPH who could benefit from tadalafil treatment. Patients with low PBP could be better responders to tadalafil.

Amino acids, especially L-leucine, regulate protein turnover in skeletal muscle and have attracted attention as a means of increasing muscle mass in people suffering from malnutrition, aging (sarcopenia), or a bedridden state. We previously showed that oral administration of L-lysine (Lys) by gavage suppressed proteolysis in skeletal muscles of fasted rats. However, the intake of Lys in the absence of other dietary components is unlikely in a non-experimental setting, and other dietary components may interfere with the suppressive effect of Lys on proteolysis. We supplemented Lys to a 10% casein diet and investigated the effect of Lys on proteolysis and autophagy, a major proteolytic system, in the skeletal muscle of rats. The rate of proteolysis was evaluated from 3-methylhisitidine (MeHis) released from isolated muscles, in plasma, and excreted in urine. Supplementing lysine with the 10% casein diet decreased the rate of proteolysis induced by intake of a low-protein diet. The upregulated autophagy activity [light chain 3 (LC3)-II/total LC3] caused by a low-protein diet was reduced, and the Akt/mTOR signaling pathway was activated by Lys. Importantly, continuous feeding of a Lys-rich 10% casein diet for 15 days increased the masses of the soleus and gastrocnemius muscles. Taken together, supplementation of Lys to a low-protein diet suppresses autophagic proteolysis through the Akt/mTOR signaling pathway, and continuous feeding of a Lys-rich diet may increase skeletal muscle mass.

This study used a 4-km resolution regional climate model to examine the sensitivity of surface air temperature on the Pacific coast of Japan to sea surface temperature (SST) south of the Pacific coast of Japan during summer. The authors performed a control simulation (CTL) driven by reanalysis and observational SST datasets. A series of sensitivity experiments using climatological values from the CTL SST datasets over a 31-yr period was conducted. The interannual variation in surface air temperature over the Pacific coast was well simulated in CTL. The interannual variation in SST over the Kuroshio region amplified the interannual variation in surface air temperature over the Pacific coast. It was found that 30% of the total variance of interannual variation in surface air temperature can be controlled by interannual variation in SST. The calculated surface air temperature on the Pacific coast increased by 0.4 K per 1-K SST warming in the Kuroshio region. Note that this sensitivity was considerably greater during nighttime than during daytime. Concurrent with the warming in surface air temperature, downward longwave radiation at the surface was also increased. In summer, the increase in latent heat flux was considerably larger than that in sensible heat flux over the ocean because of SST warming, according to the temperature dependence of the Bowen ratio. This implies that the primary factor for the increase in surface air temperature in summer is increased moisture in the lower troposphere, indicating that the regional warming was caused by an increase in H2O greenhouse gas.

The influence of historical urbanization on warming trends observed on Hokkaido Island (Japan) is discussed with an emphasis on seasonally and diurnally differential responses of air temperature to urban effects. Two numerical experiments using past and current land use scenarios successfully simulated the observed temperature trends, showing a greater rate of warming in winter than in summer and a greater increase in daily minimum than daily maximum temperatures. The results suggest that seasonal and diurnal variations in the thermal structure of the planetary boundary layer play a leading role in determining the warming rate of surface air. Under strongly stable stratification, anomalous heating within the urban canopy dissipates into a near-surface shallow layer, resulting in increased daily minimum temperatures during winter. In summer, however, anomalous urban heating due to increased Bowen ratios is attenuated by vertical mixing in the convective daytime boundary layer, suppressing the impact of urban heating on surface warming.

The hip joint is a complex anatomic structure composed of osseous, ligaments, and muscular structure. It is a unique joint because it provides both stability and multiaxial mobility, and is involved in transferring the weight of the body. It is a common site of osteoarthritis (OA). OA is believed to be the most prevalent chronic joint disease of the hip joint and its incidence is rising as the population ages. A thorough anatomical understanding of the hip joint may us help to improve the management of hip conditions, including OA. This article presents a review of anatomy of the hip joint, designed to help a better understanding of the principles of management. We also discuss the clinical importance of anatomy of this joint from the perspective of conservative treatment.

The summer western Pacific subtropical high (WPSH) has intensified during the past three decades. However, the underlying mechanism is not yet well understood. Here, it is shown that baiu rainband activity in midsummer, which is part of the East Asian summer monsoon, plays an important role in recent intensification in the WPSH along the baiu rainband. In contrast with the WPSH, the summer Okhotsk high, which is located to the north of the baiu rainband, has weakened during the past three decades. The north–south contrasting changes between the two highs reflect a response to northward-moved and enhanced baiu heating, which intensifies the upper-tropospheric ridge, resulting in the baroclinic intensification of the WPSH. Regional climate model experiments also support the observational analysis. Therefore, baiu convective activity in midsummer can act as a major driver for the WPSH intensification. The results here suggest that the mechanism intensifying the summer North Pacific subtropical high clearly differs between the western and eastern Pacific.

The experiments with three general circulation models (GCMs) by three regional atmospheric models (RAMs) for the dynamical downscaling (DDS) have been performed to evaluate the uncertainty in the global warming response during summertime in Hokkaido, Japan. The results of a 10-year RAM integration nested into GCM under present or future climate conditions were synthesized after applying bias correction. For the target decades during which the global-mean temperature increases by 2 K in each GCM, the DDS results indicate that surface air temperature and precipitation mostly depend on the GCM imposed as the lateral boundary condition.

We report a histologically pure stage 1 seminoma with an elevated human chorionic gonadotropin (hCG). A 38 year-old man was referred for the evaluation of the left testicular swelling. He showed an elevated serum hCG level of 25,265 mIU/ml with normal a fetoprotein and lactate dehydrogenase. Imaging showed heterogeneous tumor without any metastatic lesions. We conducted 4 courses of chemotherapy before detecting hCG nadir. The final pathological report showed pure seminoma with syncytiotrophoblastic cells but no choriocarcinoma components. The patient remains disease free until present time. The case raised several questions regarding diagnosis and treatment strategy for bulky testicular seminoma.

Extremely heavy precipitation affects human society and the natural environment, and its behaviour under a warming climate needs to be elucidated. Recent studies have demonstrated that observed extreme precipitation increases with surface air temperature (SAT) at approximately the Clausius–Clapeyron (CC) rate, suggesting that atmospheric water vapour content can explain the relationship between extreme precipitation and SAT. However, the relationship between atmospheric water vapour content and SAT is poorly understood due to the lack of reliable observations with sufficient spatial and temporal coverage for statistical analyses. Here, we analyse the relationship between atmospheric water vapour content and SAT using precipitable water vapour (PWV) derived from global positioning system satellites. A super-CC rate appears in hourly PWV when the SAT is below 16 °C, whereas the rate decreases at high SAT, which is different from the precipitation-SAT relationship. The effects of upper air temperature and water vapour can consistently explain the super-CC rate of PWV relative to SAT. The difference between moist and dry adiabatic lapse rates increases with SAT, in consequence of more ability to hold water vapour in the free atmosphere under higher SAT conditions; therefore, attainable PWV increases more rapidly than the CC rate as SAT increases.

The quality of short term electricity demand fore-casting is essential for all the energy market players for operation and trading activities. Electricity demand is significantly affected by non linear factors such as climatic condition, calendar and other seasonality have been widely reported in literature. This paper considers parsimonious forecasting models to explain the importance of meteorological parameters for the hourly electricity demand forecasting. Many researchers include only temperature as a major weather factor because it directly influences electricity demand, however other meteorological factors such as relative humidity, wind speed etc. are rarely included in literature. Therefore, the main purpose of this study is to investigate the impact of meteorological variability such as relative humidity, wind speed, solar radiation etc. for short term demand forecasting and analyzed it quantitatively. We demonstrate three different multiple linear models including auto-regressive moving average ARMA (2,6) models with and without some exogenous weather variables to compare the performances for Hokkaido Prefecture, Japan. We applied Bayesian approach to estimate the weight of each parameters with Gibbs sampling and results show overall improvement of mean absolute percentage error (MAPE) performance by 0.015%.

Muscle mass is determined between protein synthesis and protein degradation. Reduction of muscle mass leads to bedridden condition and attenuation of resistance to diseases. Moreover, bedridden condition leads to additional muscle loss due to disuse muscle atrophy. In our previous study (Sato et al. 2013), we showed that administered lysine (Lys), one of essential amino acid, suppressed protein degradation in skeletal muscle. In this study, we investigated that the mechanism of the suppressive effects of Lys on skeletal muscle proteolysis in C2C12 cell line. C2C12 myotubes were incubated in the serum-free medium containing 10 mM Lys or 20 mM Lys, and myofibrillar protein degradation was determined by the rates of 3-methylhistidine (MeHis) release from the cells. The mammalian target of rapamycin (mTOR) activity from the phosphorylation levels of p70-ribosormal protein S6 kinase 1 and eIF4E-binding protein 1 and the autophagic-lysosomal system activity from the ratio of LC3-II/I in C2C12 myotubes stimulated by 10 mM Lys for 0-3 h were measured. The rates of MeHis release were markedly reduced by addition of Lys. The autophagic-lysosomal system activity was inhibited upon 30 min of Lys supplementation. The activity of mTOR was significantly increased upon 30 min of Lys supplementation. The suppressive effect of Lys on the proteolysis by the autophagic-lysosomal system was maintained partially when mTOR activity was inhibited by 100 nM rapamycin, suggesting that some regulator other than mTOR signaling, for example, Akt, might also suppress the autophagic-lysosomal system. From these results, we suggested that Lys suppressed the activity of the autophagic-lysosomal system in part through activation of mTOR and reduced myofibrillar protein degradation in C2C12 myotubes.

Cracking growth tests were conducted in high-temperature water containing hydrogen peroxide (H2O2) at 561–423 K to evaluate the effects of H2O2 on stress corrosion cracking (SCC) of stainless steel (SS) at temperature lower than the boiling water reactor (BWR) operating temperature. Small compact tension (CT) specimens were prepared from thermally sensitized type 304 SS. Despite the observation of only a small portion intergranular SCC (IGSCC) near the side groove of the CT specimen at 561 K in high-temperature water containing 100 ppb H2O2, the IGSCC area expanded to the central region of the CT specimens at 423 and 453 K. Effects of H2O2 on SCC appeared intensely at temperature lower than the BWR operating temperature because of a reduction in the thermal decomposition of H2O2. To estimate the environment in the cracks, outer oxide distribution on the fracture surface and the fatigue pre-crack were examined by laser Raman spectroscopy and thermal equilibrium calculation was performed.

This study investigated the spatiotemporal characteristics of high-temperature events in Hokkaido, Japan, using observational data of 26 years. Statistical analyses revealed that the annual mean frequency of these events was lower (higher) at stations on the western (eastern) side of Hokkaido. The frequency of these events showed clear seasonal variation with two distinct peaks occurring in January and May. In addition, the local time of the high-temperature onset was strongly dependent on the season; the onset occurred more frequently from 1600 to 0400 Japan Standard Time (JST) in January and from 0700 to 1300 JST in May. The seasonal dependence mechanism of the high-temperature onset was investigated in eastern Hokkaido, where the frequencies of both January and May high-temperature events were the highest. In January, an extratropical cyclone passage caused intensified warm advection and increased precipitable water vapor, leading to weakened radiative cooling during the night. In May, the high-temperature events were triggered by two different mechanisms related to solar insolation. The first mechanism is explained by dynamic foehn, which forms the subsidence of the high potential temperature layer on the lee of mountains. However, the nocturnal inversion layer prevented vertical mixing of the foehn-induced warm air aloft and cold air near the ground. The surface air temperature dramatically increased after sunrise when the nocturnal inversion layer disappeared. The second mechanism is explained by the combination of airflow diabatically heated by surface sensible heat flux and dynamic foehn. Therefore, solar insolation is the key factor that controlled the diurnal variation in high-temperature events in May.

[1] The role of sea surface temperature (SST) anomaly in modulating the terrestrial precipitation in winter around Japan was investigated using a regional atmospheric model. Large amount of snowfall occurs as the westerly winter monsoon carries abundant moisture from the Japan Sea. An experiment with realistic SST gives improved representation of terrestrial precipitation distribution compared to the reanalysis. The standard deviation of interannual variation of precipitation in the experiment was approximately 20% larger over the Kuroshio extension than that in the experiment with climatology SST, suggesting that the SST variability enhances the oceanic precipitation variability. For the role of Japan Sea, the terrestrial precipitation over the Japan Sea side (JSS) region in northern Japan was sensitive to the offshore SST anomaly through affecting moisture flux toward Japan. Since the offshore SST was clearly warmer in the 2000s relative to the 1980s, the effect of the long-term SST variation on the terrestrial precipitation trend was examined. The experiment with realistic SST simulated the observed trend in terrestrial precipitation in the JSS region. In contrast, the precipitation trend was significantly reduced in the experiment with climatology SST. Therefore, the long-term SST trend is an important factor for the precipitation trend in the region of Japan and the adjacent oceans where SST has significant trends. Precipitation in southern Japan facing the Pacific Ocean indicated increasing trend even without the SST trend. This suggests that the long-term variations in extratropical cyclones are also an important factor for precipitation trends around the Kuroshio extension.

Crack growth tests were performed in high-temperature water containing hydrogen peroxide (H 2 O 2 ) to evaluate the relationships between the crevice structure and H 2 O 2 on stress corrosion cracking (SCC) growth morphology of stainless steel (SS). Small compact tension (CT) specimens were prepared from thermally sensitized type 304 SS. 20–300 ppb H 2 O 2 was injected into the high-temperature water at 561 K. Intergranular SCC (IGSCC) and transgranular SCC were observed near the side grooves and the central region of the original CT specimens, respectively. Chevron notches were removed from the CT specimens after fatigue pre-crack introduction. Owing to pre-crack shortening, the IGSCC area expanded to the central region of the CT specimens and increased with H 2 O 2 concentration. The effects of H 2 O 2 on SCC appeared intensely near the surfaces exposed to high levels of H 2 O 2 . Microanalysis and distribution examination of oxide layers were performed and the percentage of H 2 O 2 remaining in the crack was calculated.

Mesoscale processes that cause tremendous amounts of precipitation around the Meghalaya Plateau, northeast India, were investigated using a regional atmospheric model, with a particular focus on the possible role of an intraseasonal oscillation (ISO) and the diurnal cycle. A numerical experiment was conducted using the Weather Research and Forecasting Model (WRF) to simulate a prominent submonthly-scale ISO event observed during June–July 2004. A WRF experiment successfully simulated the timing and magnitude of precipitation during the first active period and subsequent inactive period of the ISO, despite large biases in the second active period. The WRF experiment revealed that the magnitude of prevailing southwesterly winds in the lower troposphere differs significantly between active and inactive periods; strong southwesterly flow transports abundant moisture to the southern slope of the Meghalaya Plateau during the active period, which triggers forced lifting and brings orographic precipitation. However, low-level wind during the inactive period is too weak to overcome the vertical stratification barrier; hence, it is unable to reach the condensation level. The WRF experiment suggested that the diurnal cycle of precipitation is enhanced during the active period, exhibiting an evening to early morning maximum, as observed by the Tropical Rainfall Measuring Mission (TRMM). The experiment also indicated a prominent nocturnal low-level jet (LLJ) appearing at 900 hPa. The direction of the LLJ varies clockwise with time, which accelerates the preexisting southwesterly flow during 1800–0600 LT. The diurnal variation of the LLJ is responsible for the evening to early morning maximum of precipitation, thus contributing to the precipitation variability in the ISO.

In spent fuel pools at the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant, hydrazine was added to salt-containing water in order to reduce dissolved oxygen. Hydrazine is known to reduce dissolved oxygen in high-temperature pure water, but its deoxygenation behavior in salt-containing water at ambient temperature in the presence of radiation is unknown. Deoxygenation using hydrazine in salt-containing water was thus investigated using a 60Co gamma-ray source and artificial seawater at room temperature. Water samples containing a small amount of hydrazine were irradiated at dose rates of 100–10,000 Gy/h. The concentration of dissolved oxygen in the water samples was measured before and after irradiation. Notably, a decrease in the dissolved oxygen was only observed after irradiation, and the dissolved oxygen concentration decreased with increasing dose rate and irradiation time. The rate of decrease in the amount of dissolved oxygen using hydrazine was slow in the presence of salts. Kinetic considerations suggested ...

Several catabolic diseases and unloading induce muscle mass wasting, which causes severe pathological progression in various diseases and aging. Leucine is known to attenuate muscle loss via stimulation of protein synthesis and suppression of protein degradation in skeletal muscle. The aim of this study was to investigate the effects of lysine intake on protein degradation and synthesis in skeletal muscle. Fasted rats were administered 22.8-570 mg Lys/100 g body weight and the rates of myofibrillar protein degradation were assessed for 0-6 h after Lys administration. The rates of myofibrillar protein degradation evaluated by MeHis release from the isolated muscles were markedly suppressed after administration of 114 mg Lys/100 g body weight and of 570 mg Lys/100 g body weight. LC3-II, a marker of the autophagic-lysosomal pathway, tended to decrease (p=0.05, 0.08) after Lys intake (114 mg/100 g body weight). However, expression of ubiquitin ligase E3 atrogin-1 mRNA and levels of ubiquitinated proteins were not suppressed by Lys intake. Phosphorylation levels of mTOR, S6K1 and 4E-BP1 in the gastrocnemius muscle were not altered after Lys intake. These results suggest that Lys is able to suppress myofibrillar protein degradation at least partially through the autophagic-lysosomal pathway, not the ubiquitin-proteasomal pathway, whereas Lys might be unable to stimulate protein synthesis within this time frame.

Sarcopenia is a condition of the loss of muscle mass that is associated with aging and that increases the risk for bedridden state, thereby warranting studies of interventions that attenuate sarcopenia. Here the effects of 2-month dietary L-lysine (Lys) supplementation (1.5-3.0 %) on myofibrillar protein degradation and major proteolytic systems were investigated in senescence-accelerated mouse prone 8 (SAMP8). At 36 weeks of age, skeletal muscle and lean body mass was reduced in SAMP8 when compared with control senescence-accelerated mouse resistant 1 (SAMR1). The myofibrillar protein degradation, which was evaluated by the release of 3-methylhistidine, was stimulated in SAMP8, and the autophagy activity, which was evaluated by light chain 3-II, was stimulated in the skeletal muscle of SAMP8. The activation of ubiquitin-proteasome system was not observed in the muscles of SAMP8. However, myofibrillar protein degradation and autophagic activity in skeletal muscles of SAMP8 were suppressed by dietary intake of 3.0 % Lys. The present data indicate that myofibrillar protein degradation by bulk autophagy is stimulated in the skeletal muscles of SAMP8 and that dietary Lys supplementation attenuates sarcopenia in SAMP8 by suppressing autophagic proteolysis.

2012. Half the patients had localized disease and were referred for curative intended radiation, whereas the remaining patients had disseminated disease. ADT was given as LHRH agonists, LHRH antagonists, or orchiectomy. We collected blood samples, questionnaire, performed DXA scan and bone scintigraphy prior to initiating ADT and during the following two years of ADT. The study was approved by the local ethical committee. None of the patients had received prior androgen deprivation nor osteoporosis treatment. RESULTS: A total of 105 individuals were included. The mean age of the participants was 70 (range 53-91, SD 6.3) years. The median PSA level was 30.5 (range 1-5714) mg/L. The median Gleason score was 7 (range 5-10, SD 1.1). A total of 50 patients had localized prostate cancer; the remaining 55 patients had disseminated disease. The prevalence of osteoporosis was 10% and the prevalence of osteopenia was 58% prior to initiating ADT, and after two years of ADT it rose to 22% and 57%, respectively. In multivariate analysis smoking and presence of disseminated disease were significantly associated with an increased risk of osteoporosis, whereas a high body mass index was significantly associated with a decreased risk of osteoporosis. CONCLUSIONS: Osteoporosis was present among patients with prostate cancer and evolved rapidly during two years of ADT. Further awareness regarding osteoporosis and bone health in prostate cancer patients is needed and we recommend that patients with prostate cancer are DXA scanned prior to and during ADT.

Smoking behavior is a multifactorial trait influenced by genetic and environmental components. Several genome-wide association studies (GWASs) have identified candidate genes or loci for smoking behavior. However, most of these results were from European studies. Genetic differences are known to exist between ethnic groups or samples from different geographic locations. This chapter focuses on the genetic aspects of Japanese smoking behavior. Focusing on the CYP2A6 polymorphism, many studies have reported that a mutant allele with an impaired or null enzyme activity was a negative risk factor for nicotine addiction; however, some studies have indicated negative associations. Regarding neuronal nicotinic acetylcholine receptors, we showed that the CHRNA5 rs16969968 polymorphism was associated with smoking cessation and a high Tobacco Dependence Screener score. We have also confirmed that the TaqIA polymorphism near the DRD2 gene was related to current smoking, which was consistent with the results of previous studies examining Japanese populations. The further accumulation of investigations, including GWASs, and functional studies is warranted to establish a wider view of the genetic factors affecting smoking behavior.

Little is known about the iliocapsularis muscle, which covers the anteromedial capsule of the hip joint. Although this muscle has rarely mentioned in anatomy texts since its first appearance in a French Anatomy text in 1843, it is considered an important muscular landmark in terms of surgery. More recently, several studies have focused on and described the morphology and possible role of this muscle. Knowledge about the iliocapsularis muscle is essential to understand its anatomy, functions, and pathology, all of which will help to improve the management of hip conditions. Therefore, this article reviews the existing knowledge about the iliocapsularis muscle, including a presentation of the muscle dissected from a Japanese cadaver. We will further discuss the clinical importance of the anatomy of this muscle from the perspective of conservative treatment.

Bone morphogenetic proteins (BMPs) are members of the transforming growth factor β (TGF-β) superfamily. BMPs, such as BMP2 and BMP4, exert its biological functions by interacting with membrane bound receptors belonging to the serine/threonine kinase family including bone morphogenetic protein receptor I (BMPRIA, BMPRIB) and type II (BMPRII). Functions of BMPs are also regulated in the extracellular space by secreted antagonistic regulators such as noggin. Although BMP2, BMP4, noggin, BMPRIA, BMPRIB, and BMPRII expressions have been well described in the central nervous system, little information is available for their expressions in the spinal cord. We, thus, investigated these protein expressions in the adult rat spinal cord using immunohistochemistry. Here, we show that BMP2, BMP4, noggin, BMPRIA, BMPRIB, and BMPRII are widely and differentially expressed in the spinal cord. Besides abundant BMP2, BMP4, noggin, BMPRIA, BMPRIB, and BMPRII protein expressions in neurons, we detected them also in astrocytes, oligodendrocytes, and ependymal cells. In addition, we found BMPRIA, BMPRIB, and BMPRII protein expressions in microglia. Interestingly, we also observed that these proteins are strongly expressed in many kinds of axons in both ascending and descending tracts. These data indicate that BMP2, BMP4, noggin, BMPRIA, BMPRIB, and BMPRII proteins are more widely expressed in the adult spinal cord than previously reported, and their continued abundant expressions in the adult spinal cord strongly support the idea that BMP signaling plays pivotal roles in the adult spinal cord.

This paper provides the insight into the effect of corporate income tax on foreign direct investment. The enhanced liquidity of labor and capital through globalization has accelerated the efficient and global utilization of human resources and capital. Considering this situation, many countries are acutely aware of the importance of attracting foreign direct investment in order to vitalize and promote economic growth. Many countries, therefore, have been providing and developing attractive environments for investments, and have lowered their corporate tax rates one after another. However, there are many elements which affect foreign direct investment and the effect of corporate tax on foreign direct investment is not necessarily apparent. We therefore empirically analyze foreign direct investment based on a panel of bilateral foreign direct investment flows among OECD 30 countries over 1985 – 2007. In this paper, we further address the dynamic panel data analysis (System GMM) through the expansion of the static panel data analysis in the previous research. This is why we recognize that the current scale of foreign direct investment may be influenced by the investment level of the previous year. We confirmed the expected result in the empirical analyses, namely, that the current scale of foreign direct investment is influenced by the investment level of the previous period. These studies also implied that the impact of corporate tax on foreign investment is significantly negative.

Spatial patterns of future atmospheric warming presented by climate model projections indicate that the temperatures of the lower troposphere will increase markedly at high latitudes in the Northern Hemisphere and also the upper troposphere at low-middle latitudes. In this study, potential impacts of the spatial patterns of future atmospheric warming on Asian dust emission were investigated by performing numerical experiments using a dynamical downscaling method. After three significant Asian dust outbreak events were reproduced as control runs, initial and boundary conditions of the control runs were updated by adding differences in atmospheric variables between the future climate (2091–2100) and the recent climate (1991–2000) to execute pseudo global warming runs. The results showed that the dust emission fluxes in the main Asian dust sources (MADSs), i.e., the Taklimakan and Gobi deserts, decrease markedly in the future climate condition. The future decreases in the dust emission fluxes are likely to be caused by a combination of the relatively large increases in sea level pressures (SLPs) in MADSs and the small SLP changes to the north of MADSs, which reduces the meridional SLP gradients between the two areas and consequently weakens cold air outbreaks. The large SLP increases in MADSs may be due to a northward shift of storm tracks and increased atmospheric stabilities caused by the large upper-tropospheric warming at low-middle latitudes. The small SLP changes to the north of MADSs corresponded to the large increases in surface air temperatures, which would be influenced by the large lower-tropospheric warming at high latitudes.

The downscaling framework, which is originally proposed by Emanuel et al. (2008), is modified to improve the interannual variation of the tropical cyclone features in Western North Pacific (WNP). The original framework, which utilizes axisymmetric model driven using monthly mean atmosphere and ocean variables, well reproduced interannual variation of tropical cyclone indices over North Atlantic while there is room for further improvement over WNP. The modified treatment of relative vorticity plays an essential role for improving interannual variation of genesis counts and power dissipation index in WNP. In this update, we introduced probability of cyclogenesis special to WNP which is a priori calculated using monthly mean 850-hPa level relative vorticity and best track. The result suggests that the monthly mean relative vorticity represents a potential of characteristic initiating disturbance in WNP such as monsoon trough and intraseasonal variation. Another experiment shows increased influence of vertical wind shear in middle troposphere improves the distribution of tropical cyclogenesis in WNP while it slightly deteriorates the interannual variation of genesis count.

Global weather forecasts do not have sufficient performance to predict the local severe weather events that are accompanied with cyclones and cold fronts due to their coarse horizontal resolution. This study investigated the performance of dynamical downscaling (DD) using mesoscale model to simulate the severe windstorm in eastern Mongolia which occurred on 26-27 May 2008.Our results revealed that the DD experiments were successful in capturing the general features of the windstorm in terms of wind and temperature patterns. The timing and amplitude of drastic changes in the simulated temperature and wind speed were very similar to that observed than that obtained from the global atmospheric data, suggesting that DD is capable of predicting extreme wind storm events in Mongolia. Analyses on the nested domains indicate that the DD has crucial impact on the performance for simulating severe storm even with a moderate resolution (27 km), and further nesting (9 and 3 km) plays a role to improve it. Furthermore, the maximum wind speed approaches the observed value more closely as the horizontal resolution increases, although it still underestimates the observed wind speed even in the 3 km mesh domain. On the other hand, the abrupt temperature change is captured well even in the low-resolution domain, suggesting a difference in necessary horizontal resolution for temperature change and maximum wind speed.

The translational mode of a vortex confined in a soft magnetic Fe19Ni81 circular disk and an elliptically shaped dot causes an asymmetric response in the rectifying planar Hall voltage and dc voltage output spectra. The symmetry breaking of these spectra has been experimentally observed, and is controlled by the simultaneous application of radio-frequency current and direct current. We can qualitatively explain the asymmetry of the rectifying spectra by the nonlinear resonator model, with gyration within a large radius around the vortex equilibrium positions causing the asymmetry.