MF59-adjuvanted seasonal trivalent inactivated (ATIV) vaccine licensed since 1997 and MF59-adjuvanted pandemic H1N1 vaccines have been distributed to approximately 80M persons. Addition of the emulsion adjuvant to inactivated vaccine formulations provides for higher levels of antibody to the viral hemagglutinin (HA) in less responsive older adults, infants and children which, in the case of the pandemic vaccine, allowed only 3.75 μg of the HA to be immunogenic. The adjuvant also stimulates production of more broadly-reactive antibodies against strains that are mismatched to those in the vaccine, a potential advantage in the face of perennial influenza virus antigenic drift. In a field trial, ATIV was 89% efficacious in preventing laboratory-confirmed influenza in 6-<72 month old children, 81% more efficacious than the unadjuvanted control split vaccine while, in older adults, ATIV reduced community-acquired pneumonia and influenza hospitalizations in adults >65 years old by 23% compared to unadjuvanted vaccine, in an observational study. The effectiveness of MF59 adjuvanted split pandemic H1N1 vaccine was 74% overall. Unadjuvanted pandemic vaccine was poorly immunogenic in HIV-infected persons, whereas their responses to MF59-adjuvanted vaccine were similar to those of healthy controls. Analyses of the clinical trials and pharmacovigilance databases and observational studies have shown that while MF59-adjuvanted influenza vaccines are more locally reactogenic, they have not been associated with an increased risk for various adverse effects (AE) of special interest, including unsolicited neurological or autoimmune events.

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We have developed and commercialized the still picture transmission system using serial interface for Consumer Use Digital VCR. According to this system. PC can receive compressed digital still picture (DV compressed), send control commands to a DVCR and communicate with daisy-chain-connected devices. In this paper, an outline of this system, the communication protocol and the hardware of this system in NV-DP1,NV-DL1 we have commercialized are reported.

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Freezing is a common method of food preservations. Maintenance of physical integrity and quality of food product is always an issue for long-distance transportation. A relatively novel freezing method, cryogenic freezing involves rapid formation of a thin frozen crust on the surface of food material, which can serve as a protective layer to reduce the degree of contamination from surroundings such as salt diffusion from the saline solution used in the subsequent freezing process. Cryogenic freezing also minimizes degradation of food material by avoiding moisture loss, a serious problem usually associated with other conventional freezing methods. The physical integrity of the food product can also be improved. The reduction of total freezing time is the other advantage of this freezing method. In this work, beef was selected as a sample material due to its potential practical application and was examined for the reduction of salt uptake from the saline solution used in freezing and the reduction in the overall freezing period. All experimental parameters were kept constant except for the cryogenic freezing time. The results show a significant improvement in the prevention of salt diffusion and some shortening of the total freezing time, which makes this freezing technology feasible for meat processing.

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Osmotic dehydration experiments of “difficult- to-filter” bentonite slurry were conducted with the aid of the high osmotic pressure brought about by hypertonic solution. In the experiments, osmotic dehydration was conducted by submerging a dialysis membrane tube containing bentonite slurry in polyethylene glycol solution. It was found that this method is quite effective for dehydration of “difficult-to-filter” slurry. It was clarified that the dehydration behaviors can be analyzed separately divided into two parts; filtration and subsequent consolidation. In the filtration period, the dehydration behaviors were well described by the Ruth filtration rate equation, in consideration of the compressibility of the filter cake. Also, the dynamic behaviors of dehydration in the consolidation period were accurately described by the modified Terzaghi model. The variations over time of the mass of the bentonite slurry during osmotic dehydration were well evaluated using in combination with the Ruth filtration rate equation and the modified Terzaghi model.

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A 34-year-old man presented with occlusion of the left vertebral artery (VA) secondary to dissection of the left subclavian artery manifesting as vertigo, nausea, vomiting, and neck pain. On admission, he was alert with left limb and truncal ataxia. Magnetic resonance (MR) imaging and MR angiography showed left cerebellar infarction and occlusion of the left VA. Conventional angiography and three-dimensional computed tomography (3D-CT) angiography showed stenosis with thrombosed pseudo-lumen of the left subclavian artery, and occlusion of the left VA. Presumably the idiopathic dissection of the left subclavian artery had reached the orifice of the left VA, and an embolism from the dissection had caused occlusion of the VA, leading to cerebellar infarction. After one month, he was discharged without severe neurological deficits. Idiopathic dissection of the subclavian artery is very rare. 3D-CT angiography is very useful for the diagnosis of arterial dissection.

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無線LANを想定した無線マルチホップネットワークにおいて、中継無線インターフェースに指向性アンテナを適用する検討を行った。指向性アンテナを用いることで中継回線において生じる電波干渉を抑制することができるため、中継伝送効率の向上が期待される。しかしながら、指向性アンテナを使用した場合、キャリアセンスを行うことのできない範囲が生じるため、そのまま適用すると伝送効率が劣化してしまうと考えられる。このため、本稿ではこの問題を解決するために指向性アンテナを適用した無線マルチホップネットワークに適した新たなMACプロトコルを提案し、それを計算機シミュレーションにより評価した。

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This experiment tested the hypothesis that the mere presence of an observer would facilitate performance on simple mazes and hinder performance on complex mazes. Sixty female students traversed either a multiple T-maze or a multiple +-maze either with or without an observer. The factors of maze-type and observer-presence did not interact in a manner consistent with previous researches. On both mazes, the “observed” subject made more errors and needed more trials to reach the criterion than the “alone” subject.

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In normal rat and human, most of the nuclei of hepatic parenchymal cells are centrally located in the cytoplasm. However, it is reported that the nuclei of hepatic parenchymal cells are situated at a deviated position on sinusoidal surfaces under pathological situations such as chronic hepatitis, hepatocellular carcinoma, adenomatous hyperplasia, or regeneration. During a study on the mechanism of extreme vitamin A-accumulation in hepatic stellate cells of arctic animals including polar bears, arctic foxes, bearded seals, and glaucous gulls, we noticed that these arctic animals displayed the nuclear deviation in hepatic parenchymal cells on sinusoidal surfaces. In this study, we assessed the frequency of hepatic parenchymal cells showing the nuclear deviation on the sinusoidal surfaces in arctic animals. A significantly higher frequency of the nuclear deviation in hepatic parenchymal cells was seen in polar bears (89.8±3.4%), arctic foxes (68.6±10.5%), bearded seals (63.6±8.4%), and glaucous gulls (24.2±5.8%), as compared to that of control rat liver (9.8±3.5%). However, no pathological abnormality such as fibrosis or necrosis was observed in hepatic parenchymal and nonparenchymal cells of arctic animals, and there were no differences in the intralobular distribution of parenchymal cells displaying the nuclear deviation in the livers from either arctic animals and control rats. The hepatic sinusoidal littoral cells such as stellate cells or extracellular matrix components in the perisinusoidal spaces may influence the nuclear positioning and hence the polarity and intrinsic physiological function of parenchymal cells.

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Turfgrasses are unique crop plants in how they grow, how they are managed, how they are used, and what people expect from them. Although citizens often are not aware of their role, turfgrasses are very important to the sustainability and quality of life in urban areas throughout the world. While often misunderstood, people come in contact with turfgrasses constantly, providing recreational opportunities and cultural benefits including creating improved physical and mental health. As living plant systems, they protect soils and influence beneficial modifications to urban climates. Although turfgrasses are highly adaptable and do not require levels of inputs many people believe, management of these turfgrass areas, particularly intensively used recreational turf is becoming more demanding with increased use and reduced resources available. In order to meet those needs, extensive knowledge in a number of disciplines is needed as well as communication skills. In addition, education needs to focus on systems, often beyond the locality, and balance economic, social, and environmental necessities. Examples of decision points in achieving this balance are provided. While challenging, addressing sustainability in turfgrass areas will improve the locations and the urban areas themselves. Education of managers to understand this balance is most challenging in areas where local expertise is not available. This review highlights examples of poor transfer of expertise and then provides three mechanisms being used currently to develop local expertise. Collaboration of local expertise with outside experts can benefit both sides.

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This paper treated a series of experiments and simulations concerned with biaxial ratcheting behavior. The biaxial ratchetting tests were conducted using SUS304 stainless steel subjected to cyclic torsion with superposed axial tensile or compressive stresses. Experimental results showed that (1) the axial strain occurred due to even zero superposed axial stress, and (2) biaxial ratchetting strain due to the tensile superposed stress was larger than that due to the compressive superposed stress. The biaxial ratchetting behavior was simulated by a constitutive model based on a viscoplastic potential related to dislocation density. To explain the axial strain due to zero or nonzero superposed stresses, a constitutive model was proposed, where the effect of the latent hardening on the back stress was considered in the evolution equation of the back stress. The constitutive model successfully simulated the axial strain due to zero or nonzero superposed stresses. The difference of the biaxial ratchetting strain due to the tensile and compressive superposed stresses was also well explained by the constitutive model.

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The osmotic dewatering of slurry was investigated using polyethylene glycol solution and bentonite slurry. After bentonite slurry was enclosed in a dialysis membrane tube (MWCO 1,000), the tube was submerged into polyethylene glycol solution (MW 10,000) until the equilibrium of dewatering. It was revealed that dewatering process was divided into filtration and consolidation processes. The dynamic behaviors of the filtration process were well analyzed by the Ruth filtration rate equation. It was clarified that a highly compressible filter cake formed in the tube. Also, the dynamic behaviors of the consolidation process could be evaluated on the basis of the modified Terzaghi model. The variations over time of the average consolidation ratio were well described by the fitting method. Moreover, as a result of dewatering of bentonite slurry by mechanical pressure, it was found that the osmotic dewatering behavior was similar to the mechanical dewatering behavior. This indicates that the role of the osmotic pressure is in agreement with that of the mechanical pressure.

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A systematic and comprehensive phenotyping platform has been developed by the RIKEN ENU-mutagenesis project between 1999 and 2007. As a result of phenotype screening on this platform, we have discovered about 400 mutants as animal models for human diseases. All information regarding these mouse mutants is now available to the public through our home page (http://www.brc.riken.jp/lab/gsc/mouse/indexJ.html). In 2008, we reconstructed the existing phenotyping platform and built a new platform. The new system has a hierarchical structure, consisting of a fundamental pipeline that utilizes the existing platform and an additional pipeline, which is optimized for more in-depth phenotyping assays. Using this system, we have started to perform more comprehensive phenotyping of mouse mutants. We have opened this system to Japanese scientists as the Japanese Mouse Clinic. It is anticipated that existing mouse mutants will be reevaluated as disease models by identifying novel phenotypes on the new platform. We will share detailed information about the standard operating procedures (SOPs) of our phenotyping analyses with other related large-scale projects, such as the European Mouse Disease Clinic (EUMODIC) and the German Mouse Clinic (GMC). Moreover, we will contribute to international efforts to standardize mouse phenotype data by sharing annotation of mutant phenotypes, which are made by internationally standardized methods, with other related projects.

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  The metabolic bioactivation of a drug to a reactive metabolite (RM) and its covalent binding to cellular macromolecules is believed to be involved in clinical adverse events, including idiosyncratic drug toxicities. Therefore, it is important to assess the potential of drug candidates to generate RMs and form drug-protein covalent adducts during lead optimization processes. In this study, the RM formation of some marketed drugs were quantitatively assessed by means of a sensitive and robust detection method that we have established using ³⁵S-glutathione (³⁵S-GSH) as a trapping agent. Problematic drugs well-known to generate RMs exhibited a relatively high rate of ³⁵S-GS-adducts to RM (RM-GS) formation, which contrasted with safe drugs. For practical use in lead optimization processes, a series of new chemical entities were tested and hints on the structural modifications needed in order to minimize their RM formation were provided. Furthermore, the RM-GS formation rates of a number of compounds were compared using their in vitro covalent binding yields to liver proteins determined with ¹⁴C-labeled compounds, demonstrating that the RM-GS formation rate could be a substitute for the covalent binding yield within the same series of compounds.

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Stress relaxation behavior and cluster distributions in Cu-P alloy and Cu-Ni-P alloys with different P content have been investigated by means of three-dimensional atom probe (3DAP). The overall improvement in the stress relaxation performance is considered in terms of dislocation pinning by solute atoms and clusters. The Cu-Ni-P alloy with low P content forms a low density of Ni-P clusters during annealing and shows a greater improvement in stress relaxation resistance than the Cu-P alloy. It is shown that the pinning effect of solute P has much less impact on the stress relaxation behavior in Cu alloys than the effect of the clusters. It is demonstrated that the clusters play a key role in the stress relaxation in Cu alloys and that the stress relaxation performance can be related to the volume fraction of the clusters.

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An analytical study concerning the limit equilibrium of nonhomogeneous soil medium satisfying nonlinear yield criterion is presented. The method of characteristics is applied to derive the recurrence formulas and consequently the slip line field.This formulation is then applied to the problems of bearing capacity and earth pressure for which the slip line fields as well as the normal stress distributions are obtained for a special case of nonlinearity of the failure function.Furthermore the results obtained in this work for the bearing capacity and earth pressure problems are compared with those predicted by the conventional theories of homogeneous soils.

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