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The objective was to evaluate the usefulness of sarcopenia and the neutrophil/lymphocyte ratio (NLR) as therapeutic efficacy predictors in patients who received pembrolizumab after platinum-based chemotherapy for advanced urothelial carcinoma (aUC). Forty-four patients with aUC were enrolled. Patients' background characteristics and clinical factors, the skeletal muscle index, and the psoas muscle index were evaluated. The NLR before and during treatment was calculated, and the rate of change of NLR was calculated. The median age was 70 years; the follow-up period was 13.2 months. The response rate was 54%. The nonresponding group had significantly more sarcopenia cases (P = 0.007) and a high rate of change of NLR (P = 0.0076). Progression-free survival (PFS) was significantly shorter in the group with sarcopenia (P = 0.002). Both PFS and overall survival were significantly shorter with an NLR rate of change greater than or equal to 1 (P = 0.001 and P = 0.002). On multivariate analysis, the presence of immune-related adverse events [hazard ratio (HR), 0.3723; 95% confidence interval (CI), 0.14-0.97; P = 0.04] and the NLR rate of change (HR, 3.986; 95% CI, 1.01-15.70; P = 0.048) were independent predictors of PFS. Sarcopenia and the rate of change of NLR appear to be useful as predictors of pembrolizumab efficacy in aUC.

Herein, we report a genetically confirmed case of neuronal intranuclear inclusion disease without characteristic subcortical hyperintensities on diffusion-weighted imaging.A 75-year-old man was admitted to our hospital with subacute onset of conscious disturbance. Except for gastric cancer, he had no apparent past medical or family history. He presented with transient fever, vomiting, and urinary retention. On admission, no apparent abnormal intensity was detected on diffusion-weighted imaging. The symptoms improved within 10 days, without any medical treatment. Additional inspections were performed under suspicion of neuronal intranuclear inclusion disease. Intranuclear inclusions were found not only from skin biopsy but also from his stomach specimens, which had been resected 6 years previously. Subsequent genetic testing revealed repeat expansion of GGC amplification in NOTCH2NLC.Characteristic neuroimaging and skin biopsy findings are important clues for diagnosing neuronal intranuclear inclusion diseases. Nonetheless, confirming a diagnosis is difficult due to the diversity of clinical manifestations and radiological features. Clinicians should suspect neuronal intranuclear inclusion disease in patients with transient encephalitic episodes, even if no abnormalities are detected on diffusion-weighted imaging.

A method for approximating planar curves by G1 continuous arc splines with a limited number of types of curvatures and lengths, named k-arc splines, is proposed. A k-arc spline is a particular arc spline, and it has only k types of arcs less than the total number of segments. Due to this property, k-arc splines require discrete variables that relate segments and k types of arcs for representation. Therefore k-arc spline approximation problems must deal with discrete variables in contrast to general arc spline approximation problems. The authors present a method to appropriately estimate these variables from curvature values of a target curve. The proposed method enables a formulation of the approximation problem as a continuous optimization problem that conventional optimization algorithms can solve efficiently. The estimation method also provides a suitable initial solution for the algorithms. Some examples to show the broad applicability of the proposed algorithm are shown.

Methyl pyropheophorbides- a possessing a (pseudo)planar substituent at the 3-position were prepared from naturally occurring chlorophyll- a . Some of the semisynthetic π-conjugates with the chlorin skeleton took two atropisomeric conformations for the sterically demanding 3-substituents, CONMe 2 , NHCOMe, C[CH C(CN) 2 ] C(CN) 2 , and Ph(2,3,4,5-Ph 4 ). Their rotational isomerization in a solution was analyzed by 1 H NMR and HPLC. Zinc complex of the 3-aryl-chlorin gave a large energy barrier for the rotation of the C3 C3 1 single bond (estimated Δ G ‡ =108 kJ mol −1 at 20 °C) and the atropisomerically pure conformers were separated at room temperature.

Nowaday, a study on saving energy as well as reducing resistance acting on a ship is important in maritime transportation. In this study, the authors present a study on reducing air resistance acting on a ship by using interaction effects between the hull and an accommodation. At first, air resistances acting on a hull and an accommodation of the ship are investigated by a commercial Computation Fluid Dynamic (CFD) code. Then, CFD results are compared with those of experimental results to validate the accuracy of the CFD. Secondly, air resistances acting on the ship with an accommodation on its deck are computed to obtain air resistances acting on the whole ships, on the hull and on accommodation. The results demonstrate that the interaction effects between the hull and its accommodation house be also shown how to reduce the total air resistance by using interaction effects between the hull and an accommodation house. The results can be applied in reducing the total resistances acting on a ship.

Patients with cerebral autosomal dominant arteriopathy with subcortical infarcts and leukoencephalopathy (CADASIL) can develop multiple border-zone infarcts due to hypotension, hypovolemia, or surgery. We report the case of a 41-year-old woman with CADASIL who developed multiple border-zone infarcts due to influenza A virus infection. The patient had no apparent history or episode of stroke or altered consciousness following the onset of respiratory symptoms, which were due to the influenza A infection. Diffusion-weighted magnetic resonance images of the brain showed multiple acute-phase infarcts in border-zone areas of both cerebral hemispheres and the corpus callosum; fluid-attenuated inversion-recovery magnetic resonance images showed increased signal in the subcortical areas of both temporal poles. Gene analysis identified a heterozygous mutation c.160C>T in exon 2 of the NOTCH3 gene (p.Arg54Cys). A diagnosis of CADASIL was established. Our case demonstrates that infectious conditions such as influenza A can trigger multiple border-zone infarctions in patients with CADASIL.

Zinc methyl 3-aminomethyl- and 3-(1-aminoethyl)-pyropheophorbides- a were prepared by modifying naturally occurring chlorophyll- a . The synthetic amino-analogs of bacteriochlorophyll- d self-aggregated in an aqueous micelle solution to give large oligomers with red-shifted and broadened electronic absorption bands. The spectra of these self-aggregates were similar to those of bacteriochlorophyll self-aggregates in the main light-harvesting antennas of green photosynthetic bacteria. The 3 1 -amino groups were alternative to the 3 1 -hydroxy groups in natural bacteriochlorophylls- c / d / e / f .

This paper presents a study on use of a Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) code to investigate the effects of side guard on aerodynamic performances of a Wood Chip Carrier (WCC). The WCC hull equipped with cranes and hoppers on its deck has been used as a reference model. Firstly, applying CFD to compute the aerodynamic performances of the original hull. Then, evaluating effects of hull shape as well as the accommodation, cranes and hoppers on aerodynamic performances and wind drag acting on the original ship. The obtained CFD results of wind drag acting on the original WCC have been compared with experimental data to validate the accuracy of the CFD. Secondly, aerodynamic performances of the WCC with the side guards have been computed by the CFD. And, the effects of the side guards on aerodynamic performances of the WCC have been found. The obtained results demonstrate that the side guards can be applied to reduce the total wind drag acting on the ship considerably.

A diesel particulate filter (DPF) substrate was fabricated from alkali-resistant α-Al2O3 to make a practical use of alkali metal catalysts for diesel soot oxidation. The fundamental properties of the α-Al2O3-DPF, including its particle filtration efficiency, pressure drop, and thermal durability were comparable to those of the conventional DPFs. The diesel soot oxidation activity of the catalyzed α-Al2O3-DPF with a washcoat of alkali metal-based catalyst was, even after thermal aging, much higher than that of the conventional catalyzed-DPF with platinum group metal catalysts.

Visual simulation of fire plays an important role in many applications, such as movies and computer games. In these applications, artists are often requested to synthesize realistic fire with a particular behavior. This paper presents two methods in order to help artists meet such requirements. First, we propose a method for controlling fire simulation by extending a previous method for smoke simulation. Controlling fire simulation with the previous method is difficult because of strong buoyancy forces caused by high-temperature. To address this problem, our method locally adjusts magnitudes of control forces. Second, we present an interactive editing method for external force field. The user can interactively design the shape of fire by placing a set of control points. Our method generates a force field to form the shape of the fire. Experimental results show that our method can control the fire into an arbitrary shape specified by the user.

A series of triazole–chlorin conjugates were prepared by Huisgen reactions of a C3–ethynylated chlorophyll derivative with azido compounds. Dimerization behaviour of their zinc complexes was investigated based on UV–vis, circular dichroism, and 1H NMR spectroscopies as well as molecular modelling calculation.

Uniaxially oriented liquid crystalline poly(γ-benzyl l-glutamate) (PBLG) gel was prepared by cross-linking the lyotropic liquid crystalline PBLG solution in magnetic field, and PBLG was converted to poly[N5-(2-hydroxyethyl) l-glutamine] (PHEG) by side-chain aminolysis reaction. The prepared PHEG gel retained the liquid crystallinity after the conversion from PBLG to PHEG when immersed in α-helix-forming solvent such as ethylene glycol. By the addition of water into the immersion solvent, conformational transition of PHEG from α-helix to random coil was occurred, and the optical anisotropy of the gel was disappeared. With this helix-to-coil transition of PHEG, the gel was swollen in the direction perpendicular to the orientational axis of PHEG, and was shrunk in the parallel direction. As the result, the gel in cylindrical shape in ethylene glycol, in which α-helical PHEG is oriented along the cylindrical axis, changed to more isotropic shape in water. This anisotropic shape change of the gel was described...

A C 3-ethynylated chlorophyll derivative was prepared from methyl pyropheophorbide- d possessing a 3-formyl group by treatment of Bestmann–Ohira reagent. The mono-substituted acetylene was subjected to coupling reactions at the terminal acetylenic carbon atom to form a series of π-extended chlorophyll derivatives. Replacement of the terminal hydrogen to phenyl, phenylethynyl and C 3-chlorin-ethynyl caused red-shifts of their Q y (0,0) maxima from 675 to 679, 686, and 696 nm, respectively. Optical properties of C3 2 -substituted 3-ethynyl-chlorophyll derivatives including chlorophyll dyads were investigated in comparison with those of their related compounds. Partial quenching of the fluorescence emission ( Φ flu =0.14) was observed for ortho -substituted dyad, compared to meta - ( Φ =0.27) and para -dyads ( Φ =0.29), suggesting a through-space interaction between the two chlorin macrocycles in a molecule.

Zinc complexes of 31-epimerically pure 32,32,32-trifluoro-bacteriopheophorbide-d methyl ester were prepared and their self-aggregation was examined in 1% (v/v) dichloromethane and hexane by visible and circular dichroism spectroscopies. Both the synthetic 31-trifluoromethylated diastereomers gave amorphous self-aggregates in the nonpolar organic solvent, while the corresponding nonfluorinated compounds possessing the 31-methyl group formed well-ordered and large oligomers similar to in vivo aggregates of bacteriochlorophyll-d in a chlorosome, a main light-harvesting antenna of green photosynthetic bacteria. The difference is ascribed to steric factor of the 3-CF3 group, which was supported by optical properties of other synthetic zinc 31-hydroxy-131-oxo-chlorins possessing trifluoromethyl or secondary/tertiary substituents at the 31-position in the nonpolar organic solvent.

Ion acceleration through a slowly diverging magnetic nozzle between a ring anode and a hollow cathode set on the axis of symmetry has been realized. Xenon was supplied as the propellant gas from an annular slit along the inner surface of the ring anode so that it was ionized near the anode, and the applied electric potential was efficiently transformed to an ion kinetic energy. As an electrostatic thruster, within the examined operation conditions, the thrust, F, almost scaled with the propellant mass flow rate; the discharge current, Jd, increased with the discharge voltage, Vd. An important characteristic was that the thrust also exhibited electromagnetic acceleration performance, i.e., the so-called “swirl acceleration,” in which F≅JdBRa ∕2, where B and Ra were a magnetic field and an anode inner radius, respectively. Such a unique thruster performance combining both electrostatic and electromagnetic accelerations is expected to be useful as another option for in-space electric propulsion in its broad functional diversity.

Small viruses that belong, for example, to the Picornaviridae, such as poliovirus and foot-and-mouth disease virus, consist simply of capsid proteins and a single-stranded RNA (ssRNA) genome. The capsids are quite stable in solution to protect the genome from the environment. Here, based on long-time and large-scale 6.5 × 10(6) all-atom molecular dynamics calculations for the Mahoney strain of poliovirus, we show microscopic properties of the viral capsids at a molecular level. First, we found equilibrium rapid exchange of water molecules across the capsid. The exchange rate is so high that all water molecules inside the capsid (about 200,000) can leave the capsid and be replaced by water molecules from the outside in about 25 μs. This explains the capsid's tolerance to high pressures and deactivation by exsiccation. In contrast, the capsid did not exchange ions, at least within the present simulation time of 200 ns. This implies that the capsid can function, in principle, as a semipermeable membrane. We also found that, similar to the xylem of trees, the pressure of the solution inside the capsid without the genome was negative. This is caused by coulombic interaction of the solution inside the capsid with the capsid excess charges. The negative pressure may be compensated by positive osmotic pressure by the solution-soluble ssRNA and the counter ions introduced into it.

3-Ethynyl-chlorin was prepared from methyl pyropheophorbide-d using Bestmann-Ohira reagent. The mono-substituted acetylene was subjected to copper-free, Pd-mediated coupling to form chlorin derivatives possessing a series of substituted ethynyl groups at the C3-position. Its 1,3-dipolar cycloadditions with azido compounds were also demonstrated.

To clarify the buckling/plastic collapse behaviour and strength of ship bottom plating, a series of elastoplastic large deflection FEM analyses is performed on stiffened plates subjected to combined biaxial thrust and lateral pressure. A part of continuous stiffened plate is considered for analysis taking into account of symmetry conditions. A series of elastic large deflection FEM analyses is also performed on continuous plating without stiffeners to examine the influence of lateral pressure on the buckling behaviour of plating.It has been found that : (1) When initial deflection is in a hungry horse mode, bifurcation buckling takes place. The buckling strength increases with the increase in applied lateral pressure.(2) The buckling strength is increased also by the stiffeners, which constrain the rotation of panel along its edge. An analytical formula is derived to evaluate the local buckling strength of stiffened plate considering the influence of stiffeners.(3) With the increase in applied lateral pressure, the boundary condition of the panel between stiffeners changes from simply supported condition to clamped condition. This change increases the buckling/plastic collapse strength of stiffened plate.(4) With larger lateral pressure, yielding starts earlier. This reduces the buckling/plastic collapse strength of stiffened plate.(5) Owing to the opposite effects described above, the buckling/plastic collapse strength of stiffened plate takes its maximum value at a certain magnitude of lateral pressure, especially when transverse compression is dominant.(6) The formulae by classification societies give conservative buckling strength under bi-axial compression, and the bottom plating has much reserve up to the ultimate strength even when lateral pressure is acting.

A novel catalyzed diesel particulate filter (CDPF) consisting of an α-alumina DPF and an alkali-metal catalyst has been developed for the aftertreatment of diesel soot. The α-alumina DPF (Al-DPF) was fabricated in a multi-segmented structure to relieve the thermal stress caused by the relatively high thermal expansion coefficient of α-alumina. The thermal and physical properties of the Al-DPF were analyzed and compared with those of the commercially available cordierite- and SiC-DPFs. The fundamental properties of the Al-DPF, including its particle filtration efficiency, pressure drop, and thermal durability were comparable to those of the conventional DPFs. Furthermore, the soot oxidation activity of the alkali-catalyzed Al-DPF (AC-Al-DPF) was evaluated using a 2.2 L diesel engine test bench. The soot oxidation rate of the AC-Al-DPF was 3-fold higher than that of a conventional Pt/Pd catalyzed SiC-DPF even after thermal aging at 800 °C for 50 h. Several accelerated durability tests were also conducted to clarify the negative effects of sulfur poisoning and ash accumulation on the catalytic activity of the AC-Al-DPF. The AC-Al-DPF demonstrated considerable stability against both sulfur poisoning and ash accumulation, which indicated that the alkali-catalyzed α-alumina DPF could be applied as an effective tool for the emission control of diesel soot.

Methyl mesopyropheophorbide-a possessing an ethyl group at the 3-position, its 3(1)-demethyl analogue (3-methyl homologue), and its 3(1)-deethyl analogue (3-unsubstituted chlorin) were prepared by modifying naturally occurring (bacterio)chlorophylls bearing 3-vinyl, formyl, acetyl, and 1-hydroxyethyl groups. These synthetic 3-(un)substituted chlorophyll derivatives and their nickel complexes are probable intermediates during degradation of (bacterio)chlorophylls to chemically stable porphyrinoids. The optical properties (visible absorption, circular dichroism, and fluorescence emission) of the catabolic candidates in a solution were measured, and the substitution effect was investigated.

The 3-acetyl groups of synthetic methyl pyropheophorbides were rotated around the 3–3 1 bond and the rotational conformers were obtained in a dichloromethane solution of 20-bromo- and methyl-substituted compounds, based on their electronic and vibrational absorption spectra. Such a rotational deviation of the 3-acetyl group from the cyclic tetrapyrrole plane induced less π-conjugation to affect the redmost Q y band, which has been observed in natural photosynthetic antenna systems, bacteriochlorophyll- a molecules in oligopeptides.

Privacy is one of the most desirable properties in modern communication systems like the Internet. There are many techniques proposed to protect message contents, but it is difficult to protect message addresses because they should be clear to message router. In this paper we propose a mechanism of one-time receiver address in IPv6 for providing unlinkability against eavesdroppers. In our system, a pair of sender and receiver independently generate an identical sequence of addresses by using a secret key exchanged in advance. The sender changes the destination address every time when it initiates a transaction, and only the corresponding receiver can follow the change of the address. We have implemented the proposed mechanism on Linux systems. The prototype system hides relation between transactions with small overhead.

The Curtius rearrangement was applied to a C3-carboxylated chlorophyll derivative. Hydrolysis of the resulting isocyanate gave the C3-aminochlorin, while addition of an amine or alcohol to the inte...