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Corynebacterium simulans was first reported in 2000. Although it is a member of the normal skin flora, some cases of C. simulans infection have been reported. Other Corynebacterium spp. rarely cause chronic pyogenic spondylitis, and pyogenic spondylitis caused by C. simulans has not been reported at all. Here we report a case of acute pyogenic spondylitis due to C. simulans. A 78-year-old man with diabetes mellitus visited our hospital with a 3-day history of lower back pain and fever. Blood culture revealed C. simulans and magnetic resonance images of lumbar vertebrae showed pyogenic spondylitis. He recovered after treatment by vancomycin for 9 weeks and was discharged home. No recurrence has been observed for half a year. This is likely the first reported case of pyogenic spondylitis by C. simulans. In general, Corynebacterium spp. cause chronic pyogenic spondylitis, but this case showed an acute course.

Corticobasal syndrome (CBS) is pathologically characterized by tau deposits in neuronal and glial cells and by reactive astrogliosis. In several neurodegenerative disorders,Baseline and 1-year follow-up imaging were acquired using magnetic resonance imaging and positron emission tomography withThe 1-year follow-up scan images revealed thatLongitudinal increases in

Background/Aim: Ischemic preconditioning (IPC) may reduce hepatic ischemia-reperfusion (IR) injury, but efficacy of IPC on mitochondrial proteome is not demonstrated. We investigated how IPC modifies the mitochondrial proteome after IR injury. Methods: Rats were subjected to 25 min of portal triad crossclamping (IR group, n = 8). In the IPC group (n = 8), 10 min of temporal portal triad clamping was performed before 25 min of portal clamping. Samples were obtained after 24 h. The mitochondrial inner-membrane potential was measured by the uptake of a lipophilic cationic carbocyanine probe and mitochondrial proteome was also investigated using 2-dimensional differential in-gel electrophoresis and liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry. Results: Mitochondrial inner-membrane potential and glutathione were lower and serum transaminase was higher in the IPC group than in the IR group. The mitochondrial precursor of aldehyde dehydrogenase 2 and α-methylacyl-CoA-racemase were upregulated in the IPC group in comparison to the IR group. In contrast, protein disulfide-isomerase A3 precursor, 60S acid ribosomal protein P0, carbonic anhydrase 3 and superoxide dismutase were significantly more downregulated in the IPC group than in the IR group. Conclusions: A hepatoprotective effect by IPC was not shown; however, IPC caused significant up- or downregulation of several mitochondrial proteins.

Supersaturated Fe–1.2 wt.% Cu alloys were irradiated with 200 MeV Xe and 200 MeV Au ions at elevated temperatures. To make an irradiated region and an unirradiated region in specimens, a masking plate was put on the specimen during the irradiation. After the irradiation, the hardness was measured by using a conventional microhardness tester or a nano-indenter. We have found that the hardness only in irradiated region increases by the irradiation. The boundary of irradiated and unirradiated regions can be clearly identified by the difference in hardness. The present result implies that swift heavy ion irradiation can be used for the local modification of hardness in Fe–Cu supersaturated alloys.

The relations between vacancy-type defects in Fe-40, 45, and 50 at%Rh alloys and stress-induced phase transitions from a B2 phase have been examined by XRD, TEM, and positron annihilation experiments. The specimens were deformed at room temperature by a high-speed compression machine, and the natures of related vacancies and vacancy clusters were examined. The results reveal that structural Rh vacancies exist in non-stoichiometric FeRh alloys, and that lifetimes of the long-lifetime components of the introduced defects change in various manners, depending upon the deformation conditions.

Precipitation and compositional changes in iron-chromium solid solution alloys due to irradiation by 2 MeV electrons have been studied by high-voltage electron microscopy and energy-dispersive X-ray spectroscopy. The distinct solute segregation was not observed at irradiation temperatures below 773 K. At 873 K, chromium solutes were enriched by the irradiation at grain boundaries. Thinning of specimens by sputterings due to irradiation was also observed at 873 K. The radiation-induced homogeneous precipitation was observed, although the phase of the precipitates was not identified. It is noteworthy that iron-chromium alloys show spinodal decomposition in high concentrations.

The damage structures of float-zone (Fz) and Czochralski-grown (Cz) Si crystals were evaluated with transmission electron microscopy after irradiation with fission neutrons at various fluences ranging from 1019 to 1022 n/cm2 at temperatures ranging from 473 to 1043 K. The defects were compared with those in crystals of the same type irradiated with fusion neutrons. The morphology of the defect structures is discussed in relation to Marlowe code computer simulation results. The vacancy-type defect clusters formed at 473 K are concluded to initiate from vacancy rich regions at cascades, while the interstitial type clusters formed above 673 K are associated with free interstitials which diffused out of the cascades. In contrast to previous findings for fusion neutron-irradiated Si, in the present study various types of defect morphologies were observed in fission neutron-irradiated Si.

This paper describes a three-fingered nine-degrees-of-freedom hand whose parts can be inserted through trocars and assembled inside the abdominal cavity. Unlike other studies of surgery robots, this study focuses on a nondominant hand of a surgeon and its goal is to develop a robotic hand that can carry out assistive tasks for surgery, as if the human nondominant hand existed in the abdominal cavity. Another advantage of such a robotic hand is that it can grasp and retract large internal organs. The assemblage of the developed hand consists of center, right, and left finger units. The center finger unit is inserted through one trocar, and the right and left finger units are inserted through another trocar and then passed through the trocar, where the center finger unit is inserted. Then, the three finger units are connected to form the hand. One notable advantage of this assembly procedure is that the power transmission used to drive the finger joints is connected outside the abdominal cavity, which makes assembly and disassembly much easier and safer than the previously proposed hand. Although the hand has no wrist, its three finger joints play the role of a wrist joint. In vivo experiments demonstrate that the assembly procedure is simple, and that the hand can be made to grasp, hold up, and retract large internal organs, such as small intestine and spleen, by manipulating its joints in such a way that the hand fits the shape of the organ.

Thin foils of Ni-9.0 at.%Si, Ni-5.0 at.%Co and Ni-4.9 at.%Cu solid solutions were irradiated by 25 keV helium ions and 2 MeV electrons. The solute concentration around a grain boundary in the specimens was measured by EDS in an electron microscope. Silicon atoms and copper atoms were enriched and depleted at grain boundaries by the electron irradiation, respectively. In the He ion irradiation, silicon atoms were more enriched and copper atoms were less depleted at grain boundaries, compared with the electron irradiation. Cobalt concentration was not changed around grain boundaries in either case. The simulation of He ion irradiation based on the reaction rate theory suggests that the suppression of the Cu depletion is due to the decrease of free vacancy concentration, and the enhancement of the Si segregation is caused by the interstitial He atoms. Such a change of the point defect concentrations is caused by the strong interaction between vacancies and helium atoms.

Deuterium and helium ion bombardments of silicon have been performed in the range of 300–673 K as simulation experiments of the effect of protons and helium produced by nuclear reactions with D-T neutrons. The irradiation-induced defects were investigated by transmission electron microscopy and positron annihilation techniques. The spatial distribution of the defects was compared with simulation calculations made using the TRIM-3D code. It was found that cavities were formed by He+ ion bombardment with doses greater than 2 × 1021ions/m2, but not by D+ ion bombardment. {113} interstitial type dislocation loops have been observed by bombardments both with D+ and He+ ions. It was found that the implanted He+ and D+ ions behave differently for the nucleation of irradiation-induced secondary defects.

The task of variable selection is essential to improving the ability of machine learning systems to generalize. Although there are many conventional variable selection methods, almost all of them need to prepare and learn a large number of samples in advance because they are based on offline learning. This property is not suitable for online learning systems. To overcome this inconvenience, we propose a quick online variable selection method inspired by human problem solving behaviors. The proposed method tries to generate several variable set candidates in a speculative manner using a filter method and evaluates them using a wrapper method. The method can also function in concept-drifting environments, where relevant variable sets are changing. The experimental results show that the new method yields appropriate variable sets from a small number of samples.

This work presents a quick machine learning system inspired by human learning behavior. Data-mining systems based on machine-learning usually need a large number of iterations to acquire correct solutions, whereas people usually find appropriate hidden rules after only a small number of observations of the instances in a dataset. We think that this quick learning is the result of using tentative hypothesis as the data-model in the early steps of the learning. If the hypothesis happens to be accurate, the learning would be completed immediately after the hypothesis is applied. We therefore reduce the effort required for learning by gambling on the possibility that the tentative hypothesis is accurate. Our new machine learning system emulates this process by minimizing an objective function that represents not only the likelihood of error but also the predicted learning-cost. In experiments, the new system yields appropriate solutions to function approximation problems with only a small number of observations of instances. This system would be helpful for emergent problem solving.

was substituted for IGF-I(SD), the relationships became more intense (for men, HR=0.47, 95%CI 0.33–0.65, p< 0.001; for women, HR=0.50, 95%CI 0.27–0.91, p = 0.024). Conclusion: The present study showed that lower serum IGF-I levels were associated with the increased all-cause mortality in patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus, suggesting that serum IGF-I could be clinically useful for assessing the risk of mortality in the population.

Stress-induced phase transitions(B2-L1 0 , B2-fcc) on an FeRh alloy were investigated with X-ray diffraction (XRD) and transmission electron microscopy(TEM). An Fe-50.5at%Rh alloy was rolled to 80 μm thickness, and annealed at 1370K for 173ks. Annealed sample sheets were cold rolled at various rolling rates, and changes of the sample alloy on the phase state were investigated with XRD. The L1 0 phase appeared in the early stage of cold work. With heavy work appearance of the fcc phase and consequent decrease of L1 0 were observed. Destruction of the order of B2 phase was also observed with progress of cold working. The crystallography and morphology of stress induced phases were studied with TEM. L1 0 phase grains were appeared as layers of about 100 to 1000nm thickness, and density of dislocations in them were extremely high. The separate appearance of fcc phase from L1 0 phase was found in B2 phase grains. The result is negative to an idea that the Ll 0 phase is an intermediate phase of the B2-fcc transition.

In-situ observation of defect formation in Fz and Cz silicon with (111) orientation by electron irradiation has been performed at temperatures between -100°C and 550°C using a 2 MeV high voltage electron microscope. Two kinds of interstitial type faulted dislocation loops are formed with and without an incubation period, respectively. The former appears in the region localized at the electron entrance surface, and the latter mainly localized at the electron exit surface. Linear defects, which appear near the electron exit surface, are also observed. Annealing experiments of these secondary defects were carried out around 800°C, and the point defect species which contribute to the shrinkage of the loops were identified as the vacancy, and the mean activation energy of 3.5 eV was obtained for self diffusion.

The origin of “extra” spots in electron diffraction patterns taken from retained austenite and martensite in Fe-7 pct Al-2 pct C has been investigated. The present interpretation differs from that of previous investigators. It is concluded that a high density of fine carbide precipitates 50A in diameter is responsible for the extra reflections. The precipitates have the perovskite structure and grow epitaxially in the austenite during quenching. When martensite forms at a lower temperature, the precipitates are transformedin situ.

In order to study the recovery process of gold thin films deposited on an amorphous carbon film kept at 80 K, the electron diffraction method and transmission electron microscopy were used. It was found from the measurement of the intensity, the radius and the half width of the diffraction rings that the films had three distinct recovery stages between 80 and 360 K; that is, from 100 to 180 K, 200 to 280 K and 300 to 360 K. In the temperature range between 200 and 300 K grain boundaries began to migrate and above 300 K the grains with the 111 planes parallel to the film surface grew preferentially.

The angular correlation of gamma rays from the annihilation of positrons in liquid mercury alloys is measured. The momentum distribution of conduction electrons in liquid mercury alloys, especially in liquid Hg - 4 at. %Na, shows an anomalous k -dependence near the Fermi momentum.