著者
Hiroshi Nogami Jun-ichiro Yagi Shin-ya Kitamura Peter Richard Austin
出版者
The Iron and Steel Institute of Japan
雑誌
ISIJ International (ISSN:09151559)
巻号頁・発行日
vol.46, no.12, pp.1759-1766, 2006 (Released:2006-12-21)
参考文献数
25
被引用文献数
35 55

The iron and steelmaking industry has been receiving social pressure to reduce energy consumption and environmental load as recent increase in the social awareness on environmental and resource problems. The ironmaking system consumes more than a half of overall energy input to the steelwork and its improvement is expected as a countermeasure for such problems. Numerous attempts through improving the blast furnace operation have been made. This paper analyzes material and energy balances of ironmaking system that consists of hot stove, coke oven, CDQ, sintering and blast furnace. The operation statuses of the blast furnace with natural gas injection, metallic charging and top gas recycling that have been obtained by the kinetic-based numerical simulations are applied to this analysis. The results suggested that the metallic charging to blast furnace decreases both energy input and CO2 emission. The natural gas injection operation decreases the CO2 emission from the iron making system while the decrease in the energy input is small. The top gas recycling operation increases the CO2 emission due to the scrubbed CO2 from the recycled top gas.
著者
Kazuo Omori Naoto Katakami Shoya Arakawa Yuichi Yamamoto Hiroyo Ninomiya Mitsuyoshi Takahara Taka-aki Matsuoka Hiroshi Tsugawa Masahiro Furuno Takeshi Bamba Eiichiro Fukusaki Iichiro Shimomura
出版者
Japan Atherosclerosis Society
雑誌
Journal of Atherosclerosis and Thrombosis (ISSN:13403478)
巻号頁・発行日
pp.52506, (Released:2020-01-25)
参考文献数
32
被引用文献数
15

Aim: An identification of the high-risk group of atherosclerotic cardiovascular disease (CVD) is important in the management of patients with diabetes. Metabolomics is a potential tool for the discovery of new biomarkers. With this background, we aimed to identify metabolites associated with atherosclerosis in patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM). Methods: A total of 176 patients with T2DM who have never had a CVD event and 40 who were survivors of coronary artery disease (CAD) events were enrolled. Non-targeted metabolome analysis of fasting plasma samples was performed using gas chromatography coupled with mass spectrometry (GC/MS) highly optimized for multiple measurement of blood samples. First, metabolites were screened by analyzing the association with the established markers of subclinical atherosclerosis (i.e., carotid maximal intima-media thickness (max-IMT) and flow-mediated vasodilation (FMD)) in the non-CVD subjects. Then, the associations between the metabolites detected and the history of CAD were investigated. Result: A total of 65 annotated metabolites were detected. Non-parametric univariate analysis identified inositol and indoxyl sulfate as significantly (p<0.05) associated with both max-IMT and FMD. These metabolites were also significantly associated with CAD. Moreover, inositol remained to be associated with CAD even after adjustments for traditional coronary risk factors. Conclusions: We identified novel biomarker candidates for atherosclerosis in Japanese patients with T2DM using GC/MS-based non-targeted metabolomics.
著者
Akira Hashimoto-Gotoh Koichi Kitao Takayuki Miyazawa
出版者
Japanese Society of Microbial Ecology / Japanese Society of Soil Microbiology / Taiwan Society of Microbial Ecology / Japanese Society of Plant Microbe Interactions / Japanese Society for Extremophiles
雑誌
Microbes and Environments (ISSN:13426311)
巻号頁・発行日
vol.35, no.1, pp.ME19130, 2020 (Released:2020-01-23)
参考文献数
62
被引用文献数
5

MicroRNAs (miRNAs) are a group of small non-coding RNAs that suppress the expression of target mRNAs. The seed sequence of miRNA plays a crucial role in recognizing the 3′-untranslated region of the target mRNA. Cells infected with a simian foamy virus (SFV) isolated from an African green monkey (Chlorocebus aethiops) (SFVcae) showed high expression levels of viral miRNAs encoded in the long terminal repeat of SFVcae. In the present study, we investigated the roles and expression of miRNAs derived from an SFV isolated from a Japanese macaque (Macaca fuscata) (SFVmfu) using next-generation sequencing technologies. The results obtained showed that SFVmfu also expressed viral miRNAs; however, the seed sequences of most miRNAs derived from SFVmfu differed from those reported previously from SFVcae. Cells persistently infected with SFVmfu strongly expressed an miRNA with the same seed sequence as the miR-1 microRNA precursor family. Luciferase reporter assays indicated that this miRNA down-regulates the expression of adenylyl cyclase-associated protein 1, which is up-regulated in several solid tumors. The present results suggest that SFVmfu utilizes viral miRNAs to establish long-term co-existence with the Japanese macaque.
著者
Yoshiyuki KINOSE Yuji MASUTOMI Fumitaka SHIOTSU Keiichi HAYASHI Daikichi OGAWADA Martin GOMEZ-GARCIA Akiko MATSUMURA Kiyoshi TAKAHASHI Kensuke FUKUSHI
出版者
The Society of Agricultural Meteorology of Japan
雑誌
農業気象 (ISSN:00218588)
巻号頁・発行日
vol.76, no.1, pp.19-28, 2020 (Released:2020-01-10)
参考文献数
48
被引用文献数
14

In Asia, where rice is a major crop, there is high concern about the detrimental effects of climate change on rice productivity. Evaluating these effects, considering the country-specific cultivars’ responses to climate, is needed to effectively implement the national adaptation plans to maintain food security under climate change. However, to date, information on the effects of climate change on the local rice cultivars used in developing countries is extremely limited. In the present study, we used a process-based crop growth model, MATCRO-Rice, to predict the impact of climate change on yields of the major local rice cultivar Ciherang in Indonesia during the next 25 years (2018-2042). This model simulated the effects of current to future air temperature, precipitation, and atmospheric carbon dioxide concentration on rice yield. A total of 14 future climate scenarios, derived from a combination of four general circulation models and three or four representative concentration pathway scenarios in the Coupled Model Intercomparison Project Phase 5, were used to consider the uncertainty of the future climate. The results showed that the rice yield was reduced under all climate scenarios, mainly because of the higher air temperature, leading to reduced photosynthetic rates, increased respiration rates, and phenological changes such as acceleration of senescence. The mean yield reduction across the 14 future climate scenarios was 12.1% for all of Indonesia in 2039-2042. Therefore, to maintain yields in Indonesia, rice production needs to adapt to climate change, and especially to higher air temperatures, in the near future.
著者
CHIE TSUTSUMI TOMOHISA YUKAWA NAM-SOOK LEE CHANG-SHOOK LEE MASAHIRO KATO
出版者
The Japanese Society for Plant Systematics
雑誌
Acta Phytotaxonomica et Geobotanica (ISSN:13467565)
巻号頁・発行日
vol.59, no.3, pp.211-218, 2008-11-28 (Released:2017-03-21)

Plants recognized as Liparis koreana (Nakai) Nakai ex W.T. Lee (Orchidaceae) in Japan and Korea is morphologically distinct from the type specimen of that species in the following points: flowers sparsely arranged (vs. closely arranged in the type); apex of anther cap mucronate (vs. beaked), lateral sepals twisting and enfolding the lip (vs. extending to the apex of the lip). Since these plants do not correspond with any known species, it is described as a new species, Liparis koreojaponica. The taxonomic status of L. koreana is reviewed.
著者
Md Shafiullah Parvej Md Ashraful Alam Mio Shono Mst Nusrat Zahan Mst Misrat Masuma Parvez Wahedul Karim Ansari Md Sayduzzaman Jowel Md Sharif Uddin Eriko Kage-Nakadai Md Tanvir Rahman Yoshikazu Nishikawa
出版者
National Institute of Infectious Diseases, Japanese Journal of Infectious Diseases Editorial Committee
雑誌
Japanese Journal of Infectious Diseases (ISSN:13446304)
巻号頁・発行日
vol.73, no.1, pp.76-82, 2020 (Released:2020-01-23)
参考文献数
35
被引用文献数
4

Using multiplex real-time PCR, 960 fecal samples collected from poultry, cattle, and patients with diarrhea in Bangladesh were screened for diarrheagenic Escherichia coli (DEC). The invasion-related gene virB showed the highest prevalence in human patients (41%) and was shown to be positively correlated first with afaB with regards to diffuse adhesion and second with aggR with regards to aggregative adhesion. These three genes were specific to human patients. In contrast, the Shiga toxin genes stx1 (57%) and stx2 (40%) were prevalent in cattle samples. The eae gene, which is associated with attaching and effacing lesion formation, and the elt and est genes, which are associated with enterotoxins, were detected from all three sample sources. Heat map construction and hierarchical clustering assigned the samples into five different clusters, with the patient samples positive for virB and afaB being placed together in one cluster. Although the detection of virulence genes cannot be a direct indication of the distribution of diarrheagenic organisms, their detection suggests that Shigella spp. or enteroinvasive E. coli are the most prevalent diarrheagenic bacteria in Bangladesh and that diffusely adherent E. coli is concomitantly present with these bacteria. eae-possessing organisms in patients may come from cattle and poultry sources. The small number of stx-positive patients could be explained by the small number of animal samples that were positive for both eae and stx.
著者
Lee Soo-Cheol
出版者
滋賀大学環境総合研究センター
雑誌
滋賀大学環境総合研究センター研究年報 (ISSN:13491881)
巻号頁・発行日
vol.6, no.1, pp.1-14, 2009-07
被引用文献数
1

Economic instruments based on the Beneficiary Pays Principle, with a close linkage with river basin management, have been introduced each in Korea and Japan over the past decade. In Japan, twenty nine examples of Forest and Head Water Conservation Taxes have been introduced since 2003, initiated by the implementation of Omnibus Decentralization Act in 2000. In Korea, the Water Use Charges were introduced for Han River Basin in 1999, after a major industrial chemical spill incident, and for three other big river basins in 2003. These rivers are the sources of water for most of the Korea's major population centers. These economic instruments have been among the main policy measures for water environment preservation in each country since their introduction, and they have some accomplishments and challenges. Although these two systems were introduced based on the same principle that the one who is a beneficiary of certain policy should pay for the policy cost, they have different characteristics in other aspects. Japan's Forest and Head Water Conservation Taxes have some merits. For one, it should be politically rather easy to introduce, because it is taxed widely but very thinly to the all residents concerned. They have some disadvantages; e.g., there is no incentive function to control the use of water by water uers in the tax system. Korea's Water Use Charge System, on the other hand, was able to change its water preservation policy from the management based on jurisdictional units to that based on river basin management units. One of the drawbacks of this system is that it does not give so much incentive for the residents in the upper basin of the rivers to control the discharge of pollutants. The two systems have the same challenge in establishing the basin governance to coordinate and manipulate various interest groups concerned.
著者
Yuan-Qing Fu Ju-Sheng Zheng Bo Yang Duo Li
出版者
Japan Epidemiological Association
雑誌
Journal of Epidemiology (ISSN:09175040)
巻号頁・発行日
pp.JE20140120, (Released:2015-03-14)
参考文献数
52
被引用文献数
15 33

Epidemiological studies have suggested inconsistent associations between omega-3 polyunsaturated fatty acids (n-3 PUFAs) and prostate cancer (PCa) risk. We performed a dose-response meta-analysis of prospective observational studies investigating both dietary intake and circulating n-3 PUFAs and PCa risk. PubMed and EMBASE prior to February 2014 were searched, and 16 publications were eligible. Blood concentration of docosahexaenoic acid, but not alpha-linolenic acid or eicosapentaenoic acid, showed marginal positive association with PCa risk (relative risk for 1% increase in blood docosahexaenoic acid concentration: 1.02; 95% confidence interval, 1.00–1.05; I2 = 26%; P = 0.05 for linear trend), while dietary docosahexaenoic acid intake showed a non-linear positive association with PCa risk (P < 0.01). Dietary alpha-linolenic acid was inversely associated with PCa risk (relative risk for 0.5 g/day increase in alpha-linolenic acid intake: 0.99; 95% confidence interval, 0.98–1.00; I2 = 0%; P = 0.04 for linear trend), which was dominated by a single study. Subgroup analyses indicated that blood eicosapentaenoic acid concentration and blood docosahexaenoic acid concentration were positively associated with aggressive PCa risk and nonaggressive PCa risk, respectively. Among studies with nested case-control study designs, a 0.2% increase in blood docosapentaenoic acid concentration was associated with a 3% reduced risk of PCa (relative risk 0.97; 95% confidence interval, 0.94–1.00; I2 = 44%; P = 0.05 for linear trend). In conclusion, different individual n-3 PUFA exposures may exhibit different or even opposite associations with PCa risk, and more prospective studies, especially those examining dietary n-3 PUFAs and PCa risk stratified by severity of cancer, are needed to confirm the results.
著者
難波 恒雄 唐 暁軍 小松 かつ子 門田 重利 胡 世林 TANG Xiao-jun 宮代 博継
出版者
富山医科薬科大学
雑誌
国際学術研究
巻号頁・発行日
1993

大乗仏教(根本思想にインド医学が反映する)が伝播した地域で発達している伝統医学を,医療及び薬物の面から比較し,各地におけるインド医学(アーユルヴェーダ)の展開または対立関係を解明することを通して,北方系東洋医学の個々の特徴を明確にすること,及び調査の過程で現代医療に貢献できる薬物や養生法を見つけ出すことを目的にして現地及び文献調査を行った.具体的には、寺院(漢伝仏教系,蔵伝仏教系)で行われている医療(1a,b),仏教と融合した形で成立しているチベット医学(2)及びモンゴル医学(3)について,寺院,蔵(蒙)医院,製薬所,蔵(蒙)医学院などで聞き取り調査し,また経典中の医薬学部分または文献(4)を調査した.さらに,道家思想の基に発達した中国医学に仏教が影響を及ぼしたか(5)についても検討した.蒐集した薬物は原植物の同定研究及び血糖降下作用,抗HIV作用などの研究に供した(6).結果は次のとおりである.1a.河西走廊:敦煌石窟の医画,出土された医学の衛生予防面の内容(歯磨き,理髪,入浴,気功)に仏教の医学部分の影響が見られた(4〜9世紀の状況).現在の仏教の中心地の五台山,九華山,峨眉山,及び福建省など:漢伝仏教系寺院では善行としての医療活動がわずかに見られた.自己経験として中国医学を学んだ者,中草薬の知識のある者,気功や推拿術を修得した者(先祖代々;師から伝授;出家前に中医師;自身で名医の処方を集めた等)が医療にあたり,精神面を除くと草医師または中医師と変わらなかった.福建省では寺院に付属診療所を設けて中医師や西洋医師を雇っていた.1b.蔵伝仏教系寺院では医方明(医薬学)が重視され,かつては殆どの寺に医薬学院(マンパザサン)と医院があったが、現在残る所はわずかである。青海省の塔爾寺では40名の学僧が医薬学院で『四部医典』,『藍瑠璃』,『晶球本草』などを教科書にしてチベット医学を学び,また医院では40数名/目の患者を100種類の製剤を用いて治療していた.常用生薬は約500種類,その内主要品はインド薬物であった.2.チベット医学は理論面ではインド医学を踏襲するが、薬物の面では独自性があり,西蔵の蔵医院では丸剤が多用され(製剤数200〜350種類),原料生薬500〜700種類の内インド産は20%にすぎず70%が西蔵産,それらは高地性植物の地上部からなるものが多い.一方,青海省蔵医院では散剤が多く,薬浴によるリウマチ,皮膚病の治療に力が入れられていた.生薬は30%を中薬材公司から購入しており,中国化(漢化)が見られた.紅景天,兎耳草,冬虫夏草,蔵茵陳,独一味などが研究対象であった.3.モンゴル医学は外治療法(瀉血,灸,針刺,罨法,振動治療,接骨術)や食餌療法(馬乳酒の利用)に特徴があった,散剤が多用され,原料生薬はチベット生薬と同名であっても基源の異なるものがあった.4.チベット大蔵経丹珠爾の医方明部に収められた『アシュターンガ・フリダヤ・サンヒタ-(医学八分科精粋便覧)』はチベット,モンゴルへのインド医学の伝播に大きな役割を果たしていた.また,大正新脩大蔵経の律蔵の「根本説一切有部毘奈耶薬事」に収載された薬物は、今日でも主要なインド薬物であった.5.『金光明最勝玉経』や『摩訶僧祇律』に見られる「病に4種(風,熱,痰〓及び総集の病)があり,それぞれに101病がある」という概念は,陶弘景校訂の『補闕肘後百一方』,孫思〓著『千金要方』などに見られた.玉〓撰の『外台秘要』ではインドの眼科治療が紹介され,本書収載の処方の約1/3はインドの方剤であるなど,仏教医学は仏教隆盛期(6〜8世紀)には中国医学に影響を与えていた.当時伝来したインド薬物(訶子,鬱金,白豆葱,木香等)は現在でも重要な漢方処方の構成生薬になっている.6.チベット生薬86点,同製剤17点,モンゴル生薬約100点,同製剤50点,道地薬材(中薬,草薬)約200点,薬用資源植物約750点を蒐集し得た.その内チベット生薬sPru-nag,gYcr-ma,Bya-rgod sug-pa,sPang-sposなどの原植物を確証した.活性成分の研究ではSwertia mussotii Franch.の全草(蔵茵〓)のエタノールエキスの血糖降下作用を日本産のSwertia japonica Makinoなどと比較検討し,それらの活性成分がbellidifolinであることを明らかにした.またPhyllanthus emblica L.の果実から逆転写酵素阻害活性を有する化合物putranjivain A(50%阻害濃度3.9μmol/ml)を単離同定した.
著者
Kenji Ebihara Kazumasa Yamagishi Mitsumasa Umesawa Isao Muraki Renzhe Cui Hironori Imano Yasuhiko Kubota Mina Hayama-Terada Yuji Shimizu Tetsuya Ohira Tomoko Sankai Takeo Okada Akihiko Kitamura Masahiko Kiyama Hiroyasu Iso for the CIRCS Investigators
出版者
Japan Atherosclerosis Society
雑誌
Journal of Atherosclerosis and Thrombosis (ISSN:13403478)
巻号頁・発行日
pp.52241, (Released:2020-01-11)
参考文献数
30
被引用文献数
3

Aim: N-terminal pro-B-type natriuretic peptide (NT-proBNP), frequently used as a biochemical marker for detecting and monitoring heart failure, is also a risk marker for development of coronary heart disease and total stroke. However, studies that explore subtypes of ischemic stroke with regard to NT-proBNP are scarce. Here, we examined NT-proBNP and its impact upon subtypes of ischemic stroke (lacunar stroke, large-artery occlusive stroke and embolic stroke) among Japanese. Methods: We measured NT-proBNP and categorized 4,393 participants of the Circulatory Risk in Communities Study into four groups (<55, 55-124, 125-399, and ≥ 400 pg/ml). We used a multivariable Cox proportional hazards model to examine association with risks of stroke and subtypes. Results: During 4.7 years of follow-up, we identified 50 strokes, including 35 ischemic (15 lacunar, 6 largeartery occlusive, 10 embolic strokes) and 14 hemorrhagic strokes. NT-proBNP was associated with stroke risk: the multivariable hazard ratio of total strokes was 7.29 (2.82-18.9) for the highest and 2.78 (1.25-6.16) for the second highest NT-proBNP groups compared with the lowest group. The respective hazard ratios for the highest NT-proBNP group were 9.37 (3.14–28.0) for ischemic stroke and 6.81 (1.11–41.7) for lacunar stroke. Further adjustment for atrial fibrillation did not attenuate these associations. The associations were similarly observed for large-artery occlusive and embolic strokes. Conclusion: We found that even moderate serum levels of NT-proBNP were associated with the risk of total and ischemic strokes among Japanese whose NT-proBNP levels were relatively low compared with Westerners.
著者
Hung GUEI Ting-Han WEI I-Chen WU
出版者
The Japanese Society for Artificial Intelligence
雑誌
人工知能学会全国大会論文集
巻号頁・発行日
pp.2J1E501, 2019 (Released:2019-06-01)

2048-like games are a family of single-player stochastic puzzle games, which consist of sliding numbered-tiles that combine to form tiles with larger numbers. Notable examples of games in this family include Threes!, 2048, and 2584. 2048-like games are highly suitable for educational purposes due to their simplicity and popularity. Numerous machine learning methods have been proposed for 2048, which provide a good opportunity for students to gain first-hand experience in applying these techniques. This paper summarizes the experience of using different 2048-like games, namely Threes! and 2584, as pedagogical tools for teaching reinforcement learning and computer game algorithms. With two classes of graduate level students, the average win rates for 2584 and Threes! reached 96.1% and 93.5%, respectively. The course designs were also well received by students, with 4.21/5 and 4.35/5 points from student feedbacks.
著者
Takao Kuwada-Kusunose Takeshi Sakai Tomoyasu Ebihara Kunihiro Suzuki
出版者
Arachnological Society of Japan
雑誌
Acta Arachnologica (ISSN:00015202)
巻号頁・発行日
vol.65, no.1, pp.27-31, 2016-08-31 (Released:2016-11-02)
参考文献数
26
被引用文献数
2

Prey capture and subsequent behaviors of Calommata signata (Araneae: Atypidae) were observed and video-documented in the laboratory Our observations indicated that the spider captures various soil animals by using only its chelicerae. Furthermore, when closing the entrance of the burrow, the spider made a provisional cover of the entrance by hooking and drawing the inner surface of the burrow before covering the entrance with silk webbing from its spinnerets.
著者
Ke-Hsuan WANG Genta WATANABE Hayato IKEUCHI Siyang CUI I-Ping LIU Kanta YAMADA Masaaki YOSHIDA Takeshi KAWAI
出版者
The Japan Society for Analytical Chemistry
雑誌
Analytical Sciences (ISSN:09106340)
巻号頁・発行日
vol.36, no.1, pp.27-34, 2020-01-10 (Released:2020-01-10)
参考文献数
43
被引用文献数
6

A key requirement in developing oxygen evolution reaction (OER) electrocatalysts is increasing their surface area. Herein, we report the design of a hierarchical micro/nanostructured catalyst. Based on polystyrene colloidal template electrodeposition, an ordered microcup array surrounded by nanoflakes was fabricated. The effect of the deposition time on the formation of the catalyst and the corresponding OER performance of the catalyst were investigated using scanning electron microscopy, in situ X-ray absorption fine structure (XAFS) spectroscopy, and electrochemical analysis. The in situ XAFS measurements indicate that the structure of the hierarchical structured catalyst is similar to that of γ-FeOOH. The electrochemical analysis indicates that the hierarchical catalyst has a large surface area and a low charge transfer resistance, which lead to its excellent catalytic performance for the OER. Our study provides new insights in designing high-performance OER catalysts. Moreover, the synthesized hierarchical micro/nanostructured catalyst could be used as a platform for further studies on low-cost iron-based electrocatalysts.
著者
Chia-huei Tseng Ya-Ting Wang Satoshi Shioiri
出版者
ACOUSTICAL SOCIETY OF JAPAN
雑誌
Acoustical Science and Technology (ISSN:13463969)
巻号頁・発行日
vol.41, no.1, pp.2-5, 2020-01-01 (Released:2020-01-06)
参考文献数
9
被引用文献数
1

``Ma'' is a Japanese word that contains very rich meanings. It is used commonly to refer space, time, and things in between by Japanese. The mutual understanding and agreement of such concept by group individuals is a key to sustain social harmonics. In the past, this concept is primarily discussed in literature/humanity fields, and little in scientific and engineering communities. In this presentation, I will try to offer a few examples (e.g. music appreciation of silence, Japanese comic story-telling, Rakugo) to demonstrate that it is possible to use an interdisciplinary approach to investigate the concept of ``Ma'' scientifically. Furthermore, this may provide a starting point for designers and engineers to device into the interpersonal communication on other abstract concepts.