Search

Background Multilineage-differentiating stress enduring (Muse) cells, endogenous reparative pluripotent stem cells, are defined as stage-specific embryonic antigen 3+ (SSEA3+) and CD105+ double-positive cells. We previously reported that intravenously injected Muse cells home to the damaged heart and differentiate into cardiomyocytes and vessels, and reduce the infarct size and improve cardiac function in a rabbit model of acute myocardial infarction (AMI) (Circ Res 2018), and that endogenous Muse cells are mobilized into the peripheral blood in the acute phase of patients with AMI, which improve left ventricular (LV) function and attenuate LV remodeling in the chronic phase at 6 months (Circ J 2018). However, whether Muse cells are mobilized into the peripheral blood after percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI) in patients with coronary artery disease. Methods Muse cells in the peripheral blood was measured by fluorescence-activated cell sorting (FACS) as SSEA3+ and CD105+ double-positive cells in patients with coronary artery disease with 75% coronary stenosis who underwent PCI (n=18) with a mean age of 73.0±7.2 (14 male and 4 female). Blood samples were collected from the antecubital vein in patients with coronary artery disease before, and 1 and 24 h after PCI. Since the majority of Muse cells were detected in the monocyte area and few Muse cells if any were detected in the lymphocyte area, we counted the Muse cells in the monocyte area by FACS. The number of Muse cells was expressed as cells per 100 μL of blood, as follows: absolute number of Muse cells (/100 μL) = white blood cells (/100 μL) × monocytes (%) × SSEA3+/CD105+ double-positive cells (%). Results Typical case of SSEA3+/CD105+ double-positive Muse cells measured by FACS shows that majority of Muse cells exist in the monocyte area (Fig, 1-A). The number of Muse cells in the peripheral blood was significantly greater (p Conclusion Muse cells, endogenous pluripotent stem cells, are mobilized into the peripheral circulating blood 1 h and 24 h after PCI in patients with coronary artery disease. Mobilized Muse cells after PCI might be contributing to repair the damaged coronary artery. Figure 1 Funding Acknowledgement Type of funding source: None

The Antarctic continental margin supplies the densest bottom water to the global abyss. From the late twentieth century, an acceleration in the long-term freshening of Antarctic Bottom Waters (AABW) has been detected in the Australian-Antarctic Basin. Our latest hydrographic observations reveal that, in the late 2010s, the freshening trend has reversed broadly over the continental slope. Near-bottom salinities in 2018–2019 were higher than during 2011–2015. Along 170° E, the salinity increase between 2011 and 2018 was greater than that observed in the west. The layer thickness of the densest AABW increased during the 2010s, suggesting that the Ross Sea Bottom Water intensification was a major source of the salinity increase. Freshwater content on the continental slope decreased at a rate of 58 ± 37 Gt/a in the near-bottom layer. The decadal change is very likely due to changes in Ross Sea shelf water attributable to a decrease in meltwater from West Antarctic ice shelves for the corresponding period.

As the deregulation of the electric power industry moves forward, there is an increasing need for cost cutting and it is becoming exceedingly important to keep track of the residual life and identify the timing of replacement for power transmission equipment that has aged for several tens of years in the field. This paper, taking up the theme of "insulation degradation phenomena and lifetime evaluation for power transmission equipment", conducted cross-sectional comparison of different types of equipment although this kind of evaluation was made independently for these equipment types so far. This paper covered six types of equipment: gas insulated switchgear (GIS), gas insulated transformers, oil filled (OF) transformers, OF cables, crosslinked polyethylene (XLPE) cables, and power capacitors. As a result of examining the characteristics such as electric, thermal, mechanical, and hygroscopic degradations, each of these equipment types was found to have distinctive Voltage-time (V-t) and Voltage-number (V-N) characteristics, which sometimes greatly varied from those of others. Since thermal degradation is dominant for gas insulated transformers and oil filled transformers, their lifetimes depend on the reduction of mechanical strengths of Polyethylene Terephthalate (PET) or insulating paper. Therefore, it is effective to diagnose decomposition products such as CO, CO2 and furfural generated in the thermal degradation mechanism. On the other hand, the influence of electric degradation has more significant impact on the other equipment types except OF cables. Such GIS components as epoxy spacers, XLPE cables, and power capacitors for which long-term ac voltages are dominant, are commonly characterized by the long-term V-t characteristics with a large gradient (small n-value). In terms of insulation structures, there is a possibility of reducing the degree of degradation by improving solids or the interface between solids and electrodes.

Partial discharge (PD) measurement allows detection of insulation defects in various electric power apparatus before an insulation failure occurs. It can also improve the reliability of the insulation performance of apparatus, and support rational and economical design, lifetime prediction, and nondestructive inspection. Historically speaking, PD detection methods have evolved in each category of apparatus and power cables. However, there does not seem to exist what we call universality in PD detection technology that is available to all kinds of power equipment. This article specifically describes features, similarities, and differences of partial discharge measurement and diagnosis technologies for electric power apparatus used in transmission and distribution. The main task of this article lies in not simply reviewing PD measurement and diagnosis techniques but trying a cross-equipment evaluation. First, this article deals with similarities and differences among partial discharge detection techniques for typical power apparatuses including gas insulated switchgear, oil-immersed transformers, and power cables. In particular electrical measurement technology and electromagnetic measurement technology are compared selectively. The second subject is to describe signal-processing technologies, and discuss similarities and differences among equipment in terms of noise removal, location identification, and foreign particle identification. Finally, judgment methods and judgment criteria for equipment diagnoses as a whole are analyzed and described. These discussions are expected to clarify the positioning of the partial discharge measurement technologies for various equipment among all electric power apparatus, and support technological development in the future.

Sub-THz gyrotron series named 'Gyrotron FU Series' developed in Research Center for Development of Far Infrared Region, University of Fukui (FIR FU) has achieved the maximum frequency of 889 GHz with the output power of several hundred watt and has been successfully applied to plasma diagnostics and material physics. Recently, a THz gyrotron with a pulsed magnet has been designed, constructed and operated in FIR FU. The gyrotron has achieved the first experimental result for high frequency operations whose radiation frequency exceeds 1 THz. In this paper, the design detail and the operation test results for sub-terahertz to terahertz range are described. The second harmonic operation is confirmed experimentally at the expected frequency of 1.01 THz due to TE6,11cavity mode at the magnetic field intensity of 19.1 T.

This paper deals with cross-apparatus comparisons of an insulation design of electric power apparatus. Focusing on a gas insulated switchgear (GIS), an oil-filled transformer, a cable, and a capacitor, we summarize the different and common features of their insulation design on the basis of not only referring literatures but also the authors' experiences. The insulation design process has three evaluation steps. Each step optimizes its evaluation subject by considering the nature of an insulation medium or an insulation component, and the optimization result is different. However, it is common that the insulation design process has three steps without exceptions. The technology supporting the three steps is also common.

Insulating materials exist in a variety of different forms, including gas, liquid, solid, and vacuum, and different forms of insulating materials have significantly different dielectric strengths and insulating properties. Power transmission/substation facilities for UHV AC and 500 kV DC power transmission and 500 kV underground power transmission facilities have been designed and constructed by taking advantage of the insulating properties of various insulating materials and structures so that they conform to the demanded insulation specifications. Conventionally, insulating material technology has been developed by making a close study of apparatuses and insulating materials individually. In this paper, as a new attempt, the insulating properties of various insulating materials/apparatuses are cross-sectionally compared and examined from an entirely new viewpoint through the assessment of commonalities and differences between them. A listing of lightning impulse and AC dielectric strength data is prepared and systematically positioned from the standpoint of material and structure, and compared and evaluated in a unified way from the viewpoint of typical indices of insulating properties including the "n" value of the V-t characteristic, Weibull parameters, and impulse ratio. Further, an insulation assessment of apparatuses is systematically made with consideration given to their sizes and structures as well as the insulating materials themselves. As a result, it was found, for example, that the design field strengths of power capacitors were high and those of generators were not, and there was a noticeable difference in design field strength between SF/sub 6/ gas insulated apparatuses and oil-immersed transformers. It is expected that the analysis conducted from an entirely new angle may provide a new approach to the development of apparatus insulation technology and to the rationalization of insulation design.

A precise irrigation system with a 6 × 12 array of needle-like nozzles was developed for plug transplant production using 72-cell plug trays. When a command for irrigation is given to the system, all of the nozzles are directly inserted into the corresponding cells at the same time to discharge a predetermined amount of water or nutrient solution. The amount of irrigated water from each nozzle (Q) can be controlled by adjusting the discharge time to keep the solenoid valve open (T) and by discharge pressure (P). The objectives of the present study were: (1) to obtain quantitative data for the control of Q, and (2) to examine the performance of the system during a plug transplant production period of 20 days. By adjusting T of each nozzle individually and P, a uniform distribution of Q was achieved over the tray. Consequently, a high value of Christiansen coefficient of uniformity was obtained (97.2% to 98.4%). During the plug transplant production period, the volumetric water content in each cell could be controlled by using the system without any growth deterioration of the transplants owing to the root damage caused by the nozzle insertion into the substrate. These results demonstrate that this system is feasible for precise irrigation management of plug transplant production.

We propose a method for generating an isosurface from volumetric data sampled with a face-centered cubic lattice. The display quality of the isosurface obtained by our method is greatly enhanced because it generates many good aspect ratio triangle patches. We applied the method to visualization of a colonic wall from medical data. We experimentally compared the resulting surface of our method with those of existing methods, showing the effectiveness of our method.

The application domains of biological and ecological systems provide many opportunities and challenges for the technologies of modelling and control. These domains feature prominently amongst the activities of the IFAC community. This paper, written by authors who have had close connections with IFAC activities in these domains, provides insights as to achievements that have been made and challenges which need to be addressed during this first decade of the 21st century. Applications focus on agricultural systems, the biomedical domain and on environmental systems.

We propose using zeolite filter in portable processing equipment to separate and recover SF/sub 6/ from SF/sub 6//N/sub 2/ mixtures. Testing of a prototype filter has shown that SF/sub 6/ is completely adsorbed by the filter, and the exhaust gas from the filter is pure N/sub 2/ (i.e., at an undetectable level of SF/sub 6/ measured by a gas chromatograph). The SF/sub 6/ fraction of the sorbate phase (solid phase) has been evaluated from the tests, and it is a high fraction as expected. For example, 70% sorbate corresponding to processing a mixture of 5% SF/sub 6/, and 83% sorbate corresponding to processing a mixture containing 10% SF/sub 6/. The process of releasing the SF/sub 6/ from the filter and renewing the filter by thermal swing adsorption (TSA) technique has also been investigated to determine a commercial operating temperature of 150/spl deg/C. The feasibility of applying this new concept in a portable SF/sub 6//N/sub 2/ mixture processing equipment is discussed and compared with an alternative system that the authors developed previously which was based on pressure swing adsorption (PSA) technique and also using zeolite.

The paper presents findings of agriculture research conducted in Japan in three areas: 1) artificial intelligence applications in agriculture and the environments: 2) intelligent environment control for plant production systems; and 3) intelligent robots in agriculture. The latest biosystem derived algorithms are discussed. A finite element inverse technique using a photosynthesis algorithm is described, following by a comparison of neural network (NN) training by the photosynthetic algorithm versus genetic algorithm (GA). Leaf cellular automata are introduced, and their application to optimisation problems is discussed. A decision system consisting of NNs and GAs is applied to the optimisation of plant growth under hydroponics in Japanese plant factories. In this system, the plant growth affected by nutrient concentration is first identified using NNs. Finally, recent developments in intelligent agricultural robots in Japan are introduced.

Two types of tunable filters have been developed at 400- and 800-MHz frequency bands, respectively. These filters have been fabricated with low-temperature co-fired-ceramics multilayer technologies assisted by varactor diodes. The filter size is 5.6 /spl times/ 5.6 /spl times/ 3.0 mm. Each filter has approximately 11% and 13% tuning range of frequency with a controlling voltage of 1-4 V, IL < 2.0 dB, and has an attenuation over 40 dB at fo /spl plusmn/ 30%, respectively. Temperature stability data is also discussed.

Flexural deformities are common conditions of growing horses and are suggested to have a relationship with the contraction of musculotendinous units. However, limited studies have documented the changes in each tendon and ligament in the metacarpal region with age.To investigate the changes in the cross-sectional area (CSA) of each tendon and ligament in the metacarpal region with age by ultrasonographic examination.Longitudinal study of foals from Day 1 to age 24 months.The CSA of the superficial digital flexor tendon, deep digital flexor tendon, accessory ligament of the deep digital flexor tendon and suspensory ligament was measured by ultrasonographic examination at monthly intervals from Day 1 to age 24 months in 7 Thoroughbred foals.Changes in superficial digital flexor CSA in all regions were larger than those of other structures from 10 months to 15 months. The suspensory ligament CSA was significantly larger than those of other structures on Day 1 in both the region of suspensory origin (RSO) and region of suspensory body (RSBO). This condition continued until 2 months in the RSO and until 5 months in the RSBO. The changes in deep digital flexor CSA were larger than those of other structures from 2 to 5 months in both the RSO and RSBO.The rate of change in each structure varies with age. Thus, the functional adaptation with age that takes place may differ among structures because the primary function of each structure differs.

We examined the possibility that AVP and V1a receptors were involved in regulating cortisol production in a 49 year old man with ACTH-independent bilateral macronodular adrenocortical hyperplasia (AIMAH), and investigated the effects of a V1a receptor antagonist. An i.v. injection of a small dose (0.1 or 0.3 U) of AVP, insulin-induced hypoglycaemia, upright posture tests, and oral administration of a V1a receptor antagonist (OPC-21268; 300 mg), and its repeated administration at a dose of 600 mg/day for 8 days were performed. An in vitro study of dispersed cells obtained from resected AIMAH tissue was also conducted. Plasma ACTH, AVP and cortisol levels and 24-h urinary free cortisol excretion were measured in the in vivo studies and cortisol concentrations in incubation media in the in vitro study. Injection of small doses of AVP stimulated cortisol secretion without any elevation of plasma ACTH. Insulin-induced hypoglycaemia caused a rise in plasma AVP followed by an increase in plasma cortisol. Although plasma cortisol levels were not affected by single or repeated administrations of OPC-21268, 24-h urinary free cortisol excretion was significantly decreased by the repeated treatment. In the in vitro study, more cortisol was stimulated by AVP from adrenal cells of the AIMAH tissue than from those of a normal adrenal gland, and this secretion was completely suppressed by OPC-21268. These results suggested that hypersensitivity to AVP may have contributed to overproduction of cortisol in this case of ACTH-independent bilateral macronodular adrenocortical hyperplasia, and may have contributed to its pathogenesis.

To investigate measurement physiological effect of horticultural activity for nursing home residents, we use thermal camera and psychological and behavioral test. When nursing home residents in dementia was engaged in horticultural activity, we measured thermal camera, video camera and psychological test to identification horticultural system for nursing home residents. It indicated thermal camera can use measurement physiological effect. The forehead section and mouth section was optimized for measure horticultural activity. To investigate integrated ubiquitous nursing care and horticultural activity to present higher QOL for residents, Psychology and behavior scale can be indicated behavior change of residents life.

Thoroughbred horses are seasonal mating animals, and their foals are born yearly in spring seasons. In northern regions or countries, the foals generally show a typical seasonal compensatory growth pattern, where their growth rate declines in winter and increases in the next spring. In this study, a new empirical approach is proposed to adjust for this compensatory growth when growth curve equations are estimated, by using BW of Japanese Thoroughbred colts and fillies raised in Hidaka, Hokkaido. Based on the traditional Richards growth curve equation, new growth curve equations were developed and fit to the weight-age data. The foals generally experience 2 major winter seasons before their debut in horseracing. The new equations had sigmoid subfunctions that can empirically adjust the first and second year compensatory growths, combined with the Richards biological parameter responsible for the maturity of animals. The unknown parameters included in the equations were estimated by SAS NLMIXED procedure. The goodness-of-fit was examined by using several indices of goodness-of-fit (i.e., Akaike's information criterion, Bayesian information criterion, -2 log likelihood, and residual sum of squares) for the multiple applications of the subfunctions. The indices indicated the best fit of the new equations including both subfunctions for the first and second compensatory growths to the weight-age data. The shapes of the growth curves were improved during the periods of compensatory growth. The proposed method is one of the useful approaches for adjusting multiple seasonal compensatory growths in growth curve estimations of Thoroughbreds and for the management of young horses during the compensatory periods.

The present Spacetron is used to cultivate plants over a long term by controlling environment condition. The cultivation drum was rotated in perpendicular direction creating fluctuation in gravity. Centrifugal force plus 1 G ground gravity, are distributed unevenly over the cultivation drum. This fluctuation effect on plant growth was not clear. In the modified Spacetron the cultivation drum rotates horizontally whereas the plant stage rotated in the perpendicular direction. To find the basic information for design of centrifugal phytotron the two axes Spacetron Junior (clinostat) was developed to formulate the micro and hypergravity environment. It would be used to study the effect on a plant growth process of different gravity conditions. In order to produce the different values of gravity, the clinostat's axis was rotated with a stepping motor at different angular velocity. The axis rotated at 5.2 revolutions per minute (rpm) to create a centrifugal force equivalent to 0.01 G and the plant stage was rotated at 5.2 rpm. The chlorophyll value is higher in the plants under microgravity condition of 0.01 G whereas the fresh weight and dry weight are higher in the plants under control condition of 1 G earth gravity. The result of this study showed that the plant growth was affected by microgravity along with other known factors such as vibration and unknown factors.

The interpretation of image information of plants can be possibly done based on image features extracted from the original pictorial image, This research work focused its interest on techniques of non-parametric image extraction, Two different types of non-parametric image features were discussed. First, the textural analysis which can be recognized as one of conventional non-parametric image feature extractors was examined. Secondly, The finite element method was introduced as an information processing tool for image feature extraction. The finite element application in image processing features a unique image data compression which is apparently similar to the function of human retina.

It is possible to cultivate plants under an artificial gravity field generated by a centrifugal device in space. In order to determine an optimal magnitude of gravity, there is a need to investigate the relationship between plant growth and gravity, including not only reduced gravity but also gravity greater than 1G. A prototype centrifugal phytotron was designed and fabricated in order to investigate the relationship between plant growth and increased gravity. This device enables us to cultivate plants over the long term by controlling environmental conditions in the phytotron such as temperature, relative humidity, CO2 concentration and light intensity. The results of our experiment indicate that plant seeds can germinate and grow even under an artificial gravity which changes sinusoidally from 2G to 4G

The finite element method was utilized in image feature extraction. Non-linear relationships between plant moisture content and the finite element image features were identified by using a neural network in order to predict water status of plant from digital image of a wilting plant. In this paper, bio-response feedback control strategies for developing an intelligent water management system in plant production were discussed. A non-invasive sensing technique for monitoring plant moisture conditions were proposed.

1. 1. Mn2+ (5 mM) completely inhibited the K+ (10–60 mM)-induced ileal tonic tension to the baseline, however, the tension and Mn2+ uptake increased progressively, depending on the K+ concentration of above 35 mM. 2. 2. The L-type Ca2+ channel blocker, D-600 and nifedipine inhibited the tension development and Mn2+ uptake after addition of Mn2+ in the high-K+ (60 mM) medium, however, T-type Ca2+ channel blocker, Ni2+ and amiloride had no effect on it. 3. 3. D-600 and nifedipine inhibited the tension development and Mn2+ uptake in the presence of 5 mM Mn2+ in the Ca2+-free, high-K+ (60mM) medium. 4. 4. The results suggest that Mn2+ penetrates via L-type Ca2+ channels in the ileal cell membrane in a state of prolonged depolarization and activates the contractile elements.

In ileal longitudinal muscle 5Mm Mn2+ inhibited completely the K+ (60 Mm)-induced tonic tension to the base line; however, the tension progressively increased to above the level of original tonic response evoked by K+ after 3 h in the presence of Mn2+. Tetrodotoxin (5 × 10−5 m) had no influence on the tension development in the presence of Mn2+ in the high-K+ medium. Mn2+ also increased the tension in a high-K+, Ca2+-free medium. The Ca2+ antagonist, gallopamil (10−6 m) inhibited the development of tension in the presence of Mn2+ in the high-K+ medium. The 45Ca uptake determined by the lanthanum method remained unchanged from control levels after 3 h of the 5 Mm Mn2+ application in the high-K+ medium in spite of the development of the tension. The manganese uptake in the high-K+ medium, increased in accordance with the increase of duration of 5 Mm Mn2+ application. Gallopamil inhibited manganese uptake in the high-K+ medium. These results suggest that Mn2+ firstly reduces K+-induced tension by inhibition of Ca2+ influx; subsequently, Mn2+ ions accumulate in the intracellular compartments through voltage-operated Ca2+ channels and may activate contractile proteins in the ileal muscle.

The finite element neural network (FENN) was applied to a non-invasive technique to monitor the plant water status of greenhouse-grown chrysanthemums. The governing differential equation (Poisson's equation) was utilized for neural information processing. The solution of the Poisson's equation was obtained using the finite element technique. A Kalman filter was used as a learning algorithm of the FENN. It was demonstrated as a practical example of the FENN applications that the FENN provided a means of estimating the leaf water potentials (correlated outputs of the FENN) of a greenhouse-grown chrysanthemum from the digital image data of its lead (correlated inputs of the FENN).

Ground-based gamma-ray astronomy has had a major breakthrough with the impressive results obtained using systems of imaging atmospheric Cherenkov telescopes. Ground-based gamma-ray astronomy has a huge potential in astrophysics, particle physics and cosmology. CTA is an international initiative to build the next generation instrument, with a factor of 5-10 improvement in sensitivity in the 100 GeV-10 TeV range and the extension to energies well below 100 GeV and above 100 TeV. CTA will consist of two arrays (one in the north, one in the south) for full sky coverage and will be operated as open observatory. The design of CTA is based on currently available technology. This document reports on the status and presents the major design concepts of CTA. © 2011 The Author(s).

A spatial neural network (FENN) has been developed. The FENN is structured in a physical space unlike other conventional artificial neural networks of which structure represent only mathematical connections of neural elements. The FENN structure is formed by the finite clement used in the finite element method. The governing differential equation (Poisson's equation) was utilized for neural information processing. Kalman filter was used as a learning algorithm of the FENN. In this paper, a practical aspect of the FENN in the field of plant factory is discussed in relation to the sensor fusion technique for environmental control

A method of improving the resolution and accuracy of incremental type rotary encoders using a phase encoding and code compensation system is described. Applying this system to an optical incremental encoder whose scale pitch is 1/3600 rotation, results in a resolution of up to 1/920000 rotation, and better than +or-1/300000 rotation (+or-0.0012 degrees ) precision is obtained. >