671 research outputs found
Elementy japońskich wierzeń i obrzędów w mandze Mieruko-chan. Dziewczyna, która widzi więcej Tomoki Izumiego
No full textThe aim of the article is to reflect on religious themes in contemporary Japanese comics. The manga Mieruko-chan by Tomoki Izumi is analyzed. The themes include the Japanese tradition of horror, derived from folk beliefs, as well as Shintō and Buddhist rituals. The author draws attention to religion as an important element of creating cultural reality and its function that makes it more attractive.The aim of the article is to reflect on religious themes in contemporary Japanese comics. The manga Mieruko-chan by Tomoki Izumi is analyzed. The themes include the Japanese tradition of horror, derived from folk beliefs, as well as Shintō and Buddhist rituals. The author draws attention to religion as an important element of creating cultural reality and its function that makes it more attractive
Direct interactions between NEDD8 and ubiquitin E2 conjugating enzymes upregulate cullin-based E3 ligase activity
No full textEffects of Foot–Floor Friction on Trip-Induced Falls During Shuffling Gait: A Simulation Study
No full textInhibitory effect of sulphated polysaccharide porphyran (isolated from Porphyra yezoensis) on RANKL-induced differentiation of RAW264.7 cells into osteoclasts
No full textSafe and efficient therapeutic agents for bone diseases are required in natural sources. We previously found that edible seaweed-derived polysaccharide porphyran exhibited anti-inflammatory effects through the down regulation of nuclear factor-κB. The aim of this study was to investigate the availability of porphyran as a therapeutic agent for bone diseases. The effects of porphyran on receptor activator of nuclear factor κB ligand (RANKL)-induced osteoclastogenesis in RAW264.7 cells were examined. Porphyran suppressed RANKL-induced osteoclast formation in a concentration-dependent manner (6.25–50 μg/ml) without any cytotoxic effects. Furthermore, real-time polymerase chain reaction analyses indicated that porphyran at 50 μg/ml significantly attenuated the RANKL-induced increase in the mRNA levels of osteoclastogenesis-related marker genes such as nuclear factor of activated T cells, tartrate-resistant acid phosphatase, cathepsin K, and matrix metalloproteinase-9 in RAW264.7 cells. To our knowledge, this is the first report showing that edible-seaweed-derived polysaccharide porphyran can suppress RANKL-induced osteoclastogenesis. Our results suggest that porphyran can be used as a safe therapeutic agent to improve osteoclast-related pathological conditions
Spin-orbit coupling in a hexagonal ring of pendula
No full textjournal_title: New Journal of Physics article_type: paper article_title: Spin–orbit coupling in a hexagonal ring of pendula copyright_information: © 2017 IOP Publishing Ltd and Deutsche Physikalische Gesellschaft license_information: cc-by Original content from this work may be used under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 licence. Any further distribution of this work must maintain attribution to the author(s) and the title of the work, journal citation and DOI. date_received: 2016-09-30 date_accepted: 2017-04-07 date_epub: 2017-05-1
Topological features of lithium disilicate glass-ceramics uncovered through materials informatics
No full textYamaguchi S., Li H., Funayama N., et al. Topological features of lithium disilicate glass-ceramics uncovered through materials informatics. Dental Materials , (2025); https://doi.org/10.1016/j.dental.2025.09.004.Objective: The aim of this study was to inversely predict the topological features underlying SEM images from arbitrary biaxial flexural strengths of glass-ceramics by Materials Informatics (MI) approach. Methods: The scanning electron microscopic (SEM) image and in vitro biaxial flexural strength of 10 commercially available/experimental glass-ceramics were collected. The total of 200 SEM images were prepared as input data. Topological features underlying the SEM images were extracted using persistent homology analysis and compressed using principal component analysis. Gaussian mixture regression was employed to develop a machine learning model for predicting biaxial flexural strength based on the topological features. Arbitrary biaxial flexural strengths (390, 411, 442, 478, 515, 564, 597, 610, and 640 MPa) were defined, and an inverse analysis was conducted with the constructed machine learning model to overlay topological features onto SEM images. Results: The topological features were compressed into 18 principal components. The machine learning model was selected and optimized based on the Bayesian Information Criterion. Using the constructed machine learning model, the biaxial flexural strengths were predicted with a test score of 72 % (Root Mean Squared Error: 53.5, Mean Absolute Error: 40.3). From the arbitrary biaxial flexural strengths, topological features were inversely predicted and overlaid onto SEM images. Conclusion: The inverse analysis established in this study successfully predicted the topological features on SEM images of glass-ceramics from the biaxial flexural strengths. The MI approach with the inverse analysis promises to make the process to develop glassceramics more time-efficient than the conventional in vitro approac
Ultraviolet light responses in photovoltaic properties of TiO₂ / conducting polymer heterostructure devices
No full textThis article may be downloaded for personal use only. Any other use requires prior permission of the author and AIP Publishing. This article appeared in Tokiyoshi Umeda, Yuuki Hashimoto, Hiroyoshi Mizukami, Tomoki Shirakawa, Akihiko Fujii, and Katsumi Yoshino, Appl. Phys. Lett. 85, 3139 (2004) and may be found at https://doi.org/10.1063/1.1804234.Photovoltaic properties of heterostructure devices of titanium oxide (TiO2) and conducting polymer thin films have been studied. Normal photovoltaic properties were stably observed upon the visible light irradiation of the wavelength range corresponding to the absorption of a conducting polymer, and unique photovoltaic properties were also observed upon the ultraviolet (UV) light irradiation of the wavelength range corresponding to the absorption of TiO2. UV light irradiation caused marked increases in the short-circuit current at the visible-wavelength range and in the open-circuit voltage. These properties have been discussed by considering the enhancement of the built-in field which originates from the hole accumulation caused by the trap levels in the TiO2 layer or TiO2 ∕ conducting polymer interface. This work was partly supported by a Grant-in-Aid for Scientific Research from the Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology and from the Japan Society for the Promotion of Science
Determination of boron by atomic absorption spectrometry with a coated graphite furnace
No full textBoron was determined by atomic absorption spectrometry with a coated graphite furnace. Pyrolytic graphite tubes were first coated with titanium carbide, and then further coated with tungsten carbide. A mixture of nitrates of strontium and nickel and citric acid was then added to a sample solution as a matrix modifier. Using this doubly coated tube and this matrix modifier, the determination of boron was successful with high sensitivity. No interference from metal nitrates and chlorides was observed. The sulfate interference could be removed by adding ammonium salt of EDTA
Design and optimisation of a coreless superconducting synchronous generator
No full textConstantly increasing demand for electrical power requires more efficient and more powerful machines to be built. The conventional technology cannot provide such machines. It cannot deliver machines that are smaller, lighter and provide larger torques and power ratings. The answer to these problems is believed to be in superconducting machines.After short introduction to the phenomena of superconductivity and superconducting devices, practical superconducting tapes are described. The evolution and problems considered during the design of a coreless superconducting rotor for a synchronous machine are described. A few possible coreless rotor configurations are characterised and a simple formula is used to minimise the harmonic content.Estimation of machine parameters and evaluation of losses is also conducted. The areas to which particular attention has to be paid are pointed out. All these are undertaken for a demonstrator size machine with BSCCO windings. But to achieve real benefits it is important to build a machine that more closely represents real machines. Hence an optimisation method is used to investigate the possibility of increasing the size of the machine
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