Japan Science Research Articles

Association of Instrumental Activities of Daily Living, Physical Function, and Mental Health among Older Returnees after the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Station Accident.

The 2011 Great East Japan Earthquake and consequent Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Station accident caused a large-scale evacuation, generating various health issues. Although residents gradually returned, their independence of daily living and associated factors remain unknown. This study examines the hypothesis that physical and mental status are associated with the instrumental activities of daily living (IADL) of older returnees (65 years and above) after the disaster. Older returnees to Kawauchi Village, Fukushima Prefecture, located 20–30 km southwest of the power plants, were recruited. IADL was assessed using the Japan Science and Technology Agency Index of Competence, physical function via the 30-s chair stand test, and mental health via the Japanese version of the World Health Organization Five Well-Being Index. To examine the association of IADL and possible factors, a t-test or Pearson’s product-moment correlation coefficient was used, stratified by sex. The data of 29 participants (75.5 ± 7.4 years, 19 female) were analyzed. Physical function was associated with IADL in females. Mental health was associated with IADL in males and females. Taking measures to strengthen physical function in females, as well as to improve mental health in both sexes, for enhancing IADL ability could be beneficial.

Effects of Oral Intake of Olive Leaf Extract on Hematological Parameters: A Double-Blinded, Randomized, Placebo-Controlled Trial in Progress

Background:Anemia is one of the major public health problems that affected 2.36 billion individuals worldwide in 2015. Half of all causes of anemia are iron or other nutrient deficiency anemia (WHO, 2015). Currently available treatment options for anemia include iron or other nutrient supplementation, nutritional interventions in the form of food fortification, blood transfusion, and erythropoietic agent infusion. However, conventional treatments are not without adverse effects. In this context, medicinal plants with bioactive components have been receiving considerable attention from researchers as natural hematinic agents complemented with or alternatives to conventional treatment.Olive leaf (Olea europaea L. Oleaceae) extract (OLE) is rich in bioactive compounds and have been reported to have several health benefits (Gorzynik-Debicka et al., 2018). Previously we showed that apigetrin and apigenin, components of OLE, induced erythroid differentiation in K562 cells (Tsolmon et al., 2011 and Isoda et al., 2014). Also, OLE and its phenolic compounds induced erythroid differentiation in hHSCs (Kondo et al., 2021, Samet et al., 2015).Additionally, we have reported that long-term consumption of OLE tea increased RBC count, Hb%, and hematocrit (Ht) in female volunteers aged between 40 - 70 years old (Ferdousi et al., 2019). However, none of the participants were anemic at the baseline. Therefore, in the present study, we aimed to investigate the effects of oral intake of OLE on hematological parameters in healthy to mildly anemic young adults.Study Design and MethodsA double-blinded, randomized, placebo-controlled study will be conducted in Bangladesh. Total 165 apparently healthy adults with Hb level at least 10g/dl for females (nonpregnant, non-breastfeeding) and 11g/dl for males, and aged between 18 to 59 years will be enrolled from the local community. Major exclusion criteria will include currently pregnant women or breastfeeding mothers, moderate to severe anemia (Hb concentration < 10 g / dL for women and < 11 g / dL for men), any medical condition, such as hematological diseases, malignant tumors, aplastic anemia, uncontrolled hypertension, chronic kidney disease, irritable bowel syndrome, and cardiovascular diseases, and currently taking medicine for diabetes or hypertension and taking regular iron or other supplements, etc.After providing informed written consent, study participants will be randomly assigned to placebo, 250 mg OLE and 500 mg OLE groups. Participants will take OLE or placebo capsules in two divided doses every day for 12 weeks. Hematological parameters, Hb concentration, RBC count, WBC count, Ht, MCV, MCH, MCHC, serum Fe and ferritin levels will be investigated at baseline and after 6 and 12 weeks of intervention. Liver and renal function tests will be conducted for safety assessment. Additionally, lipid profile will be investigated to understand how lipid parameters will be regulated if anemia condition is improved by OLE intervention (Araki et al., 2019). Given that fatigue is one of the most common symptoms of anemia, we will also evaluate the effect of OLE on the score of each item of the Fatigue Assessment Scale (FAS) questionnaire during the intervention.The analysis will be carried out on an intention-to-treat basis involving all the participants who will consume the test samples at least once. We will replace the missing data from dropouts using the baseline observation carried forward method. ANOVA with Bonferroni's post hoc test will be used for normally distributed data; otherwise, the Mann-Whitney U test or Kruskal-Wallis H(K) test will be used. Categorical variables will be compared by the Chi-square or Fisher's exact test. A one-way repeated-measures ANOVA with Bonferroni's post hoc test (Within-group) and ANOVA followed by Bonferroni's post hoc test (between-group) will be performed. Significance is at p < 0.05.This protocol is registered with UMIN-CTR Clinical Trial (UMIN000039023), and has been approved by University of Tsukuba Hospital Clinical Research Ethics Review Committee (R01-292) and the Ethical Review Committee of icddr,b (PR-21017). This study is funded by the Japan Society for the Promotion of Science (19K20106) and partly by the Japan Science and Technology Agency-SATREPS (JPMJSA1506). DisclosuresSuidasari: Nutrition Act Co. Ltd.: Current Employment. Yokozawa: Nutrition Act Co. Ltd.: Current Employment. Yamauchi: Nutrition Act Co. Ltd.: Current Employment.

Effect of Water Management for Membranes and Catalyst Layers Using an In-House Developed Polymer Electrolyte on Cell Performance Hysteresis in Anion Exchange Membrane Fuel Cells

In this work, we focus on the water management challenges and report on the improvements of cell performance for anion exchange membrane fuel cells (AEMFCs) using an in-house-developed anion exchange ionomer (quaternized poly(arylene perfluoroalkylene), i.e., QPAF-4, developed in this laboratory (Figure 1).1 Previously, we investigated the I-V hysteresis observed in cells using the non-precious metal catalyst Fe-N-C and found the importance of water management. 2A thinner electrolyte membrane facilitates the diffusion of water due to OH⁻ movement, such as the use of back-diffusing water to the cathode, and is effective for water management in AEMFCs. As the electrolyte membrane, QAPF-4 (ion exchange capacity: IEC = 2.0 meq g-1) membranes with film thicknesses of ca. 10, 20 and 30 μm were used. Since this membrane is soluble in methanol, it is also suitable for use as an electrode binder. An MEA in which platinum was loaded (0.20 mgPt cm-2) on both the anode and cathode was prepared. Pt loaded on carbon black (Pt/CB, TEC10E50E), supplied from TKK Japan, was used as the platinum electrocatalyst.Figure 2 shows a comparison of the I-V performances for cells utilizing the various membrane thicknesses at 60 oC, 100% RH, 0 kPag; anode H2 (100 mL min-1); cathode O2 (100 mL min-1). The cells all exhibited I-V hysteresis, i.e., a large difference in potential between increasing and decreasing current densities (CDs) as the membrane thickness decreased. From Figure 3a-b, as a result of confirming the potential change between the anode and the cathode using a cell with a reversible hydrogen electrode (RHE) provided on the cathode side, we conclude that this hysteresis phenomenon mainly occurs at the anode. We are exploring the contributing factors and will provide further details in the presentation. From these results, we found that there is an important factor in the relationship between the anode and the electrolyte membrane in the development of high performance AEMFCs with efficient water management capability. Acknowledgement This project was partly supported by the New Energy and Industrial Technology Development Organization (NEDO) Japan through funds for the “Advanced Research Program for Energy and Environmental Technologies,” by the Japan Society for the Promotion of Science (JSPS) and the the Swiss National Science Foundation (SNSF) under the Joint Research Projects (JRPs) program, and by the Japan Science and Technology (JST) through the Strategic International Collaborative Research Program (SICORP). References Ono, T. Kimura, A. Takano, K. Asazawa, J. Miyake, J. Inukai, K. Miyatake, Robust anion conductive polymers containing perfluoroalkylene and pendant ammonium groups for high performance fuel cells, J. Mater. Chem. A 5 (2017) 24804–24812, https://doi.org/10.1039/c7ta09409d.Otsuji, Naoki Yokota, D. A. Tryk, K. Kakinuma, K. Miyatake, M. Uchida, Performance hysteresis phenomena of anion exchange membrane fuel cells using an Fe–N–C cathode catalyst and an in-house developed polymer electrolyte, Journal of Power Sources, 487 (2021) 229407, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jpowsour.2020.229407 Figure 1

Evaluation of Chemical Bonding States in Multilayer Interconnect Structures for Thermal Management in Next Generation Very Large Scale Integration

1. Background and purpose Currently, it is expected that Ru is going to be introduced in place of Cu, which is the mainstream interconnect material in the very large scale integrated (VLSI) circuit. As high integration has been proceeding, the interconnect is expected not only having excellent electrical characteristics and reliability, but also providing an effective pathway for the removal of the heat generated by device operation [1]. The increasing current density in the narrowing interconnect produces Joule heat. The generated heat is removed by a heat sink attached to the substrate through the interconnect. Therefore, if the thermal resistance between the substrate and the interconnect is high, the heat cannot be removed efficiently and the interconnect temperature rises, lead to a degradation of VLSI reliability [2].In this study, we evaluated chemical bonding states of Ru/TaN/(SiOx/)Si stacking structure to clarify the mechanism contributing thermal resistance for the superior thermal management in VLSI. 2. Experimental method A 5 nm TaN was deposited by reactive sputtering (Deposition conditions: 25°C, 300 W, 1.0×10-5 Pa, Ta target) and subsequently 10 nm Ru was deposited by magnetron sputtering on a Si substrate with approximately 2 nm-thick native oxide. We prepared four samples with Ar:N2 gas ratios of 19:1, 17:3, 16:4, and 15:5, respectively, during the TaN deposition. The total thermal resistance was measured by the Frequency Domain Thermoreflectance (FDTR) method under vacuum condition.We also evaluated the chemical bonding states at the interface by Laboratory Hard X-ray Photoelectron Spectroscopy (Lab. HAXPES). The measurement conditions were kinetic energy of 9.25 keV, energy resolution of 0.5 eV, energy step of 50 meV, beam diameter of 50 μm2, and detectable depth of 50 nm, respectively. Au 4f was used as a reference of the energy calibration during for the analysis. 3. Results and Discussion The thermal resistance measured from the entire Ru/TaN/(SiOx/)Si stacking structure was reported by previous studies [1]. It can be seen that the thermal resistance decreases with the increase of N2 flow rate. In order to discuss the mechanism for determination of the thermal conductance, we performed nondestructive measurements by Lab. HAXPES.Figures 1 and 2 show the photoelectron spectra obtained from Ru 3d (Ar:N2=19:1, 15:5) and Si 1s (Ar:N2=19:1, 15:5), respectively. From Fig. 1, no significant change is observed in Ru 3d spectra even within the N2 gas flow rate changes. Therefore, the cause of the change in thermal resistance with the N2 gas flow rate change cannot be found at the Ru/TaN interface. On the other hand, from the Si 1s spectrum shown in Fig. 2, it can be confirmed that the peak intensity due to Si-N or Si-O-N bonds increases with increasing N2 gas flow rate. Therefore, it can be considered that the Si-N or Si-O-N bonds formed at the TaN/(SiOx/)Si interface as the N2 gas flow rate increased promoted heat transport and contributed to the reduction of thermal resistance.In summary, the important mechanism to control the thermal resistance became clear by the non-destructive evaluation of the chemical bonding states in the multilayer stacking structure using Lab. HAXPES. Acknowledgement This work was supported by the CREST under Project No. JPMJCR19Q5 of the Japan Science and Technology Corporation (JST).

일본의 학교폭력 현황과 대책

Objectives The purpose of this study was to analyze the present state and policy of school violence in Japan and to identify its characteristics.&#x0D; Methods To this end, the analysis was focused on the current situation and basic measures announced by the Japanese Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology in 2020.&#x0D; Results As a result, the following four characteristics were obtained : First, the number of school violence was the highest in elementary school. In Japan, school violence was more prevalent in elementary school than in secondary school, and 1-3 grades were more common in elementary school than in grades 4-6. Second, for the prevention of school violence, there was a tendency in Japan to place importance on human relationships within schools (or classes) and to emphasize the sense of group norms. Third, Japan is emphasizing early detection of school violence and early response. Fourth, serious school violence was dealt with separately from general school violence. In the case of Japan, suicide, serious physical or physical injury, or loss of money or valuables, or students not attending school for a long period of time, were considered a serious situation, and special measures were taken.&#x0D; Conclusions School violence in Japan has shown a tendency to increase little by little over the past five years, and the Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology (MEXT) in Japan responds specifically to the prevention of school violence, focusing on four main areas: prevention, early detection, early response, and response to serious situations.

Characteristics of participants in the self-determined participation type care prevention program based on the differences in participation frequency: focusing on the Japan Science and Technology Agency Index of Competence

Characteristics of participants in the self-determined participation type care prevention program based on the differences in participation frequency: focusing on the Japan Science and Technology Agency Index of Competence

Bilingual Textual Similarity in Scientific Documents

Maps of science visualizing the structure of science help us analyze the current spread of science, technology, and innovation (ST&I). ST&I enterprises can use the maps of science as competitive technical intelligence to anticipate changes, especially those initiated in their immediate vicinity. Research laboratories and universities can understand their environmental changes and use the map for their research management. However, traditional maps based on bibliometrics, such as citation and cocitation, have difficulty in representing recently published papers and ongoing projects that have few or no references; thus, maps based on contents, i.e., text-mining, have been developed in recent years for locating research papers/projects, for example, using word and paragraph vectors. The content-based maps, however, still pose difficulty in comparing documents in different languages. Therefore, aiming to construct a bilingual (English and Japanese) content-based map of science for the analyses of ST&I information resources in different languages, this article proposes a method for creating word and paragraph vectors corresponding to bilingual textual information in the same multidimensional space. In a comparison of 11 methods for generating document vectors, we confirmed that the best method achieved 87% accuracy of the bilingual content matching based on 10$\,$000 IEEE papers. Finally, we published a map of approximately 150$\,$000 funding projects of the National Science Foundation, Japan Society for the Promotion of Science, and Japan Science and Technology agency from 2013 to 2017.

Further Identification of Flavonoids Deposited in the National Museum of Nature and Science in Japan―Flavonoids Isolated from the Flowers of Cacti―

Further Identification of Flavonoids Deposited in the National Museum of Nature and Science in Japan―Flavonoids Isolated from the Flowers of Cacti―

Preparation of Model SOFCs with Proton-Conducting Electrolyte on Metal Support Using Pulse Laser Deposition

Introduction Solid oxide fuel cells (SOFCs) have advantages including no need for using expensive noble metal catalysts, and higher energy conversion efficiency compared to the other types of fuel cells. On the other hand, since their operating temperature ranges from 600 to 1000°C, heat resistance is required for the components, and the materials that can be used for fuel cells are limited to ceramics. Therefore, intermediate temperature (500 to 600°C) SOFCs are of technological interest1-3. Proton-conducting electrolytes such as Yb-doped barium zirconate exhibit sufficiently high protonic conductivity at intermediate temperatures4,5. Furthermore, SOFCs using the proton-conducting electrolytes (p-SOFCs) can operate at a high fuel utilization, because water vapor is formed on the cathode side so that the fuel gas is not diluted on the anode (fuel electrode) side. Previous numerical study has revealed that the p-SOFCs can theoretically generate electric power from the fuels with a conversion efficiency even beyond 80% LHV6. Here in this study, metal-supported p-SOFC model cells are fabricated using Pulse Laser Deposition (PLD) technique, in which p-SOFCs are prepared on supporting porous metal plates with mechanical strength and chemical stability. Technical issues and various fabrication conditions are examined. Experimental Figure 1 schematically shows the structure of a metal-supported p-SOFC model cell prepared in this study. Electrodes were prepared by a screen printing method using NiO-Gd0.1Ce0.9O2-δ (Gd-doped CeO2 denoted as GDC) as the anode material, and La0.6Sr0.4Co0.2Fe0.8O3-δ (LSCF) as the cathode material. As the electrolytes, three types of electrolyte materials were applied, prepared by PLD: oxygen-ion conducting Y2O3-stabilized ZrO2 (YSZ), and proton conducting BaZr0.8Yb0.2O3-δ (BZYb). The model cells were prepared by the following steps: (i) After filling the fuel-supplying holes of the metal support plates, the anode layer was prepared on the plates by the screen printing method. (ii) Using the PLD method, thin electrolyte was deposited on the anode layer. (iii) The cathode layer was then prepared on the electrolyte by the screen printing method. Microstructural characterization and electrochemical measurements were made for the cells prepared by these procedures. Results and discussion A three-layer electrolyte structure of GDC / BZYb / GDC was prepared by using the PLD technique. Figure 2 shows a cross-sectional SEM image of the electrolyte. From this figure, it was confirmed that a dense multi-layer (GDC / BZYb / GDC) electrolyte membrane with a thickness of a few mm could be prepared by the PLD method on the support structure. Electrochemical properties and detailed microstructural observation of such metal-supported p-SOFC model cells fabricated by these procedures will be reported and discussed. References B. C. H. Steele, and A. Heinzel, Nature, 414, 345 (2001).R. Doshi, V. L. Richards, J. D. Carter, X. Wang, and M. Krumpelt, J. Electrochem. Soc., 146 (4), 1273 (1999).M. Gödickemeier, K. Sasaki, L. J. Gauckler, and I. Riess, J. Electrochem. Soc., 144 (5), 1635 (1997).K. D. Kreuer, Chem. Mater., 8 (3), 610 (1996).Y. Matsuzaki, Y. Tachikawa, Y. Baba, K. Sato, H. Iinuma, G. Kojo, H. Matsuo, J. Otomo, H. Matsumoto, S. Taniguch, and K. Sasaki, ECS Trans., 91 (1), 1009 (2019).Y. Matsuzaki, Y. Tachikawa, T. Somekawa, T. Hatae, H. Matsumoto, S. Taniguchi, and K. Sasaki, Sci. Rep., 5, 12640 (2015). Acknowledgement This study is partially supported by the Center of Innovation (COI) program (JPMJCE1318) of the Japan Science and Technology Agency (JST). Figure 1

Global projections of temperature-attributable mortality due to enteric infections: a modelling study

Mortality due to enteric infections is projected to increase because of global warming; however, the different temperature sensitivities of major enteric pathogens have not yet been considered in projections on a global scale. We aimed to project global temperature-attributable enteric infection mortality under various future scenarios of sociodemographic development and climate change. In this modelling study, we generated global projections in two stages. First, we forecasted baseline mortality from ten enteropathogens (non-typhoidal salmonella, Shigella, Campylobacter, cholera, enteropathogenic Escherichia coli, enterotoxigenic E coli, typhoid, rotavirus, norovirus, and Cryptosporidium) under several future sociodemographic development and health investment scenarios (ie, pessimistic, intermediate, and optimistic). We then estimated the mortality change from baseline attributable to global warming using the product of projected annual temperature anomalies and pathogen-specific temperature sensitivities. We estimated that in the period 2080-95, the global mean number of temperature-attributable deaths due to enteric infections could be as low as 6599 (95% empirical CI 5441-7757) under the optimistic sociodemographic development and climate change scenario, or as high as 83 888 (67 760-100 015) under the pessimistic scenario. Most of the projected temperature-attributable deaths were from shigellosis, cryptosporidiosis, and typhoid fever in sub-Saharan Africa and South Asia. Considerable reductions in the number of attributable deaths were from viral infections, such as rotaviral and noroviral enteritis, which resulted in net reductions in attributable enteric infection mortality under optimistic scenarios for Latin America and the Caribbean and East Asia and the Pacific. Temperature-attributable mortality could increase under warmer climate and unfavourable sociodemographic conditions. Mitigation policies for limiting global warming and sociodemographic development policies for low-income and middle-income countries might help reduce mortality from enteric infections in the future. Japan Society for the Promotion of Science, Japan Science and Technology Agency, and Spanish Ministry of Economy, Industry, and Competitiveness.

Development of a social contact self-efficacy scale for 'third agers' in Japan.

"Third agers" are people over retirement age in relatively good health; third agers make up an increasing percentage of the global population as the world's longevity increases. Therefore, the challenge of prolonging a healthy third age and shortening the unhealthy period during the "fourth age" in the global health and social contexts is important in this process. However, no means to measure and support this has been developed as yet. We developed the Social Contact Self-Efficacy Scale for Third Agers (SET) and evaluated its reliability and validity. We used a self-administered mail survey covering 2,600 randomly selected independent older adults living in Yokohama, Japan. The construct validity of the SET was determined using exploratory factor and confirmatory factor analyses. Its criterion-related validity was assessed using the General Self-Efficacy Scale (GSES), the Japan Science and Technology Agency Index of Competence (JST-IC), and subjective health status. In total, 1,139 older adults provided responses. Exploratory and confirmatory factor analyses identified eight items within two factors: social space mobility and social support relationship. The final model had a Cronbach's alpha 0.834, goodness-of-fit index 0.976, adjusted goodness-of-fit index 0.955, comparative fit index 0.982, and root mean square error of approximation 0.050. There was good correlation between scale scores and the GSES (r = 0.552, p < 0.001), JST-IC (r = 0.495, p < 0.001) and subjective health status (r = 0.361, p < 0.001). The SET showed sufficient reliability and validity to assess self-efficacy in promoting social contact among third agers. This scale may help third agers in gaining and expanding opportunities for social contact, which can improve their physical health and quality of life and contribute to care prevention and healthy longevity.

Development of the Multi-Cubic [formula omitted]-ray spectrometer and its performance under intense 137Cs and 60Co radiation fields

The number of nuclear facilities being decommissioned has been increasing worldwide, in particular following the accident of the Tokyo Electric Power Company Holdings’ Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Station in 2011. Large amounts of radioactive wastes and spent nuclear fuels are stored in these facilities. Furthermore, advanced radiation therapies such as proton therapy, ion therapy, and boron neutron capture therapy using charged-particle accelerators have become popular, but charged-particle accelerators generate radiators during operation. In these nuclear and radiation facilities, proper management of radioactive materials is required until the end of the deactivation, cleanup, or disposal. Then, γ-ray spectroscopy techniques have been useful tools because they can obtain significant information on radioisotopes. Besides, space information of radioisotopes is also important, and γ-ray imaging is also required. However, intense radiation fields are located at these facilities, causing γ-ray spectroscopy and imaging difficultly. A γ-ray spectrometer with four segmentations using small-volume CeBr3 scintillators with a dimension of 5×5×5 mm3 was developed. The four scintillators were coupled to a multi-anode photomultiplier tube specific to intense radiation fields by individual supplied voltages to the last three stages. We performed the γ-ray exposure to the spectrometer under 137Cs and60Co radiation fields at the National Institute of Advanced Industrial Science and Technology in Japan. Under the 137Cs radiation field, the relative energy resolution at 1375 mSv/h was 9.2 ± 0.05%, 8.0 ± 0.08%, 8.0 ± 0.03%, and 9.0 ± 0.04% for the four channels, respectively. As the dose rate increased, significant spectral downward shifts were observed for the four channels under the 137Cs and60Co radiation fields because of the space charge effects in the photomultiplier tube. However, the Multi-Cubic sensor could provide the total throughput rate for the four channels of greater than 6 Mcps (Mcps: 106 counts per second), which increases the detection efficiency under intense radiation fields.

Ion therapy guideline (Version 2020)

Ion therapy guideline (Version 2020)

Special Issue on e-ASIA JRP: Development of a Landslide Monitoring and Prediction System in Monsoon Asia

This special issue summarizes some of the findings of the first half of our international joint research between Japan, Thailand, and Vietnam. This collaborative research is based on the framework of the e-ASIA Joint Research Program (e-ASIA JRP) and lasts for three years. Rainfall-induced landslides are a common disaster in many Asian countries. Our goal is to develop a practical method for landslide susceptibility mapping so that there are fewer landslide disasters in the future. The e-ASIA JRP is an international joint initiative of public funding organizations in the East Asia Summit member countries. Based on the co-funding mechanism, support for the research teams is received from the funding organizations in their respective countries. Since 2019, the Japanese, Thai, and Vietnamese teams have been supported by the Japan Science and Technology Agency (JST), the National Science and Technology Development Agency of Thailand (NSTDA), and the Ministry of Science and Technology of Vietnam (MOST), respectively. In the first half of our project, we completed the basic steps for developing the system. In this special issue, we are proud to present some of our achievements, including studies on slope failure analysis, landslide prevention works, meteorological observations, landslide monitoring, statistical or wide-area risk evaluations, mathematical models, and flash flood control. In addition to the above, we also present other valuable research achievements that related members have provided to help ensure the achievement of our goals. In total, 20 papers are published here. We believe that our comprehensive research activities will dramatically increase future landslide disaster mitigation, especially in monsoon Asia, and will strongly augment the roadmap for achieving the global Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) as a common desire of humanity.

A Basis for Pharmaceutical Sciences "Quality Assurance": Quality Assurance of Health Foods, Foods with Health Claims, and Pharmaceutics

The author believes that the three pillars of pharmaceutical sciences (PS) in Japan are drug development science, medical pharmacy, and quality management science. Of these, the most PS-like science is quality management science, both historically and presently. Considering the balance of safety and efficacy is the basis of PS. The definition of "quality" is the degree to which a set of inherent properties of a product, system, or process fulfills requirements in Q9 of International Council for Harmonisation of Technical Requirements for Pharmaceuticals for Human Use (ICH). In our society, pharmaceutical science graduates including pharmacists, are active participants, not only in the pharmaceutical industry, including a pharmacy, but also in the food industry, especially for quality assurance and quality control. This report presents a focused overview of quality in health foods, foods with health claims, and pharmaceutical products and discusses the importance of a curriculum focusing on quality assurance, control, and management in pharmaceutical education.

Mitochondrial DNA as a Biomarker for Acute Central Serous Chorioretinopathy: A Case-Control Study

Background: The literature suggests that stress may play a pivotal role in the precipitation of acute central serous chorioretinopathy (CSC) because chorioretinal integrity can be affected by the psychosocial state of the patient, indicating the need for a biomarker. Methods: This observational case series included 45 eyes of 45 consecutive patients with treatment-naive acute CSC. Fifty eyes of 50 age-matched healthy volunteers were included in this study as non-CSC controls. Serum samples were collected from all participants, and the levels of mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) were measured by quantitative real-time (RT)-PCR. Serum levels of high-mobility group box (HMGB) 1 and 8-hydroxy-2’-deoxyguanosine (8-OHdG), biological markers of acute/chronic inflammation and oxidative stress, were also measured. The relationships between serum mtDNA, 8-OHdG, and HMGB1 concentrations were investigated by multivariate regression analysis, alongside an assessment of clinical data. Findings: In the acute CSC group, serum mtDNA concentrations, at 36.5 ± 32.4 ng/mL, were significantly higher than the levels in the control group (7.4 ± 5.9 ng/mL; p < 0.001). Serum levels of 8-OHdG and HMGB1 in acute CSC patients measured 0.12 ± 0.08 ng/mL and 18.1 ± 35.0 ng/mL, respectively, indicating that HMGB1 levels were elevated in CSC compared with the values in the published literature. Multivariate regression analysis demonstrated that increased serum mtDNA levels were significantly associated with the height of serous retinal detachment. Interpretation: We showed serum mtDNA and HMGB1 level elevation and relation to the clinical activities of CSC, providing possible biomarkers for the acute phase of the disease. Trial Registration: This study was registered with the Osaka University Clinical Research Review Committee Registry (registration number, CRB5180007-13448). Funding: Center of Innovation Program from the Japan Science and Technology Agency, JST. Declaration of Interest: All authors declare no competing interests. Ethical Approval: All patients provided written informed consent for the investigation, and the study adhered to the tenets of the Declaration of Helsinki. The local ethics committee of the Osaka University Medical Hospital approved the study.

Near-infrared photoimmunotherapy targeting GPR87: Development of a humanised anti-GPR87 mAb and therapeutic efficacy on a lung cancer mouse model.

BackgroundGPR87 is a G-protein receptor that is specifically expressed in tumour cells, such as lung cancer, and rarely expressed in normal cells. GPR87 is a promising target for cancer therapy, but its ligand is controversial. Near-infrared photoimmunotherapy (NIR-PIT) is a novel cancer therapy in which a photosensitiser, IRDye700DX (IR700), binds to antibodies and specifically destroys target cells by irradiating them with near-infrared-light. Here, we aimed to develop a NIR-PIT targeting GPR87.MethodsWe evaluated the expression of GPR87 in resected specimens of lung cancer and malignant pleural mesothelioma (MPM) resected at Nagoya University Hospital using immunostaining. Humanised anti-GPR87 antibody (huGPR87) was generated by introducing CDRs from mouse anti-GPR87 antibody generated by standard hybridoma method. HuGPR87 was conjugated with IR700 and the therapeutic effect of NIR-PIT was evaluated in vitro and in vivo using lung cancer or MPM cell lines.FindingsAmong the surgical specimens, 54% of lung cancer and 100% of MPM showed high expression of GPR87. It showed therapeutic effects on lung cancer and MPM cell lines in vitro, and showed therapeutic effects in multiple models in vivo.InterpretationThese results suggest that NIR-PIT targeting GPR87 is a promising therapeutic approach for the treatment of thoracic cancer.FundingThis research was supported by the Program for Developing Next-generation Researchers (Japan Science and Technology Agency), KAKEN (18K15923, 21K07217, JSPS), FOREST-Souhatsu, CREST (JST).

What Has “the Innovation as a National Policy” Caused in the Field of Science? The Future of the Revision of the Basic Act on Science and Technology in Japan

What Has “the Innovation as a National Policy” Caused in the Field of Science? The Future of the Revision of the Basic Act on Science and Technology in Japan

‘Anomalies’ Visualized by Ten Years Tracking of Ph.D. Recruitment Data on JREC-IN in Japan

We have accumulated retrieval data of PhD job recruitments using the JREC-IN website, which is the public jobs database in Japan. We focused on retrieval for natural science and engineering fields with five typical keywords such as ‘Chemistry’ and ‘Biology/Life science’. To continue the retrieval for ten years, a simple keyword search was demonstrated, although a more detailed analysis might be available for short-term searches. Our data revealed several anomalies. First, the ratios of non-permanent positions against permanent positions in ‘biology/life science’ fields and ’chemistry’ fields were much higher (195% and 153%) than other fields such as ‘physics’. Biologists and chemists may easily find non-permanent positions, but it is not easy to find a permanent position. Second, a clear anomaly of recruitments according to seasons in one year was observed based on the ten years’ historical data. Because the fiscal year in Japan starts in April, the number of recruitments of permanent positions was maximised in August in all fields. Then, the peak of recruitments of non-permanent positions appeared in November through February. Our work provided fundamental knowledge to understand and solve the PhD job problem in the natural science and engineering fields in Japan.

Three-Dimensional Nondestructive Isotope-Selective Tomographic Imaging of 208Pb Distribution via Nuclear Resonance Fluorescence

Combining the nuclear resonance fluorescence (NRF) transmission method with computed tomography (CT) can be a novel method for imaging the isotope distributions, which is indispensable in nuclear engineering. We performed an experiment to reconstruct a three-dimensional NRF-CT image with isotope selectivity of enriched lead isotope rods (208Pb) together with a set of different rods, including another enriched isotope (206Pb), iron, and aluminum rods, inserted into a cylindrical aluminum holder. Using a laser Compton scattering (LCS) gamma ray beam with a 5.528 MeV maximum energy, 2 mm beam size, and 10 photon·s−1·eV−1 flux density, which is available at the BL1U beamline in the ultraviolet synchrotron orbital radiation-III (UVSOR-III) synchrotron radiation facility at the Institute of Molecular Science at the National Institutes of Natural Sciences in Japan, and we excited the Jπ = 1− NRF level at 5.512 MeV in 208Pb. An isotope-selective three-dimensional NRF-CT image of the 208Pb isotope distribution was experimentally obtained for the first time with a pixel resolution of 4 mm in the horizontal plane.