The unidentified infrared (UIR) bands, whose carriers are thought to be organics, have been widely observed in various astrophysical environments. However, our knowledge of the detailed chemical composition and formation process of the carriers is still limited. We have synthesized laboratory organics named Quenched Nitrogen-included Carbonaceous Composite (QNCC) by quenching plasma produced from nitrogen gas and hydrocarbon solids. Infrared and X-ray analyses of QNCC showed that infrared properties of QNCC well reproduce the UIR bands observed in novae and amine structures contained in QNCC play an important role in the origin of the broad 8 m feature, which characterizes the UIR bands in novae. QNCC is at present the best laboratory analog of organic dust formed around dusty classical novae, which carries the UIR bands in novae via thermal emission process [Endo et al.(2021)].

Patients with schizophrenia experiences varying clinical courses in the symptoms and up to 30-60% of patients with schizophrenia do not respond sufficiently to antipsychotics. Treatment-resistant Schizophrenia (TRS) can have several reasons, including early onset, nonadherence to oral medication regimens, and persistent negative symptoms known as deficit syndrome. Patients with TRS experience frequent exacerbations, leading to the need for higher doses of antipsychotics to achieve a clinical result.

Recently, dopamine supersensitivity psychosis (DSP) and tardive dyskinesia (TD), both of which could be caused by inappropriate pharmacotherapy, as typified by excessive dosages of antipsychotics, have also been presumed relevant to TRS. Several lines of evidence suggest that both DSP and withdrawal psychosis are closely linked to the supersensitivity of dopamine D2 receptors; this could be caused by a potent blockade of the receptors by antipsychotics. Indeed our study recently has found that patients with DSP are overlapped with the concept of treatment-resistance, and these patients can be recovered by long-acting injectable form, via amelioration of Dopamine supersensitivity state. However, it was also observed that one group did not improve at the clinical symptomatic level, despite the presence of DSP.

Here, we try to verify relation in patients with treatment-resistant schizophrenia between several classes of antipsychotics or clinical symptoms and treatment process with oral antipsychotics after the initiation of RLAI. This study is a naturalistic, one-arm design with a 12-month observation period of a moderate sample size (N=115).

Although treatment-resistant schizophrenia (TRS) is a highly heterogeneous disorder, an established and efficacious treatment for those patients to date is pharmacotherapy with clozapine. Dopamine supersensitivity psychosis (DSP) is characterized by profound unstable positive symptoms and tardive dyskinesia, and its mechanism is related to up-regulation of dopamine D2 receptors (DRD2) which can be induced by long-term treatment with antipsychotics. Patients with DSP take generally excessive high dosages of neuroleptics and thus meet easily the criteria of TRS. A drug with secure and stable pharmacokinetic, which can keep an appropriate blockade of DRD2, may contribute to amelioration and prevention of the dopamine supersensitivity state. Risperidone long-acting injection (RLAI) is a candidate agent which meets this hypothesis.

The purpose of this study is finding out clinical and social factors which determine whether patients with schizophrenia work or not.

Subjects are two-hundred sixty outpatients with schizophrenia or schizoaffective disorder from 3 hospital in this study. Clinical symptom and social function were measured with PANSS(Positive and Negative Syndrome Scale), GAPS(Global Assessment of Psychopathology Scale), SOFAS(Social and Occupational Functioning Assessment Scale), SDS(Self-rating Depression Scale), CDRS(Connor-Davidson Resilience Scale), SAI-J(Schedule for Assessment of Insight-Japanese edition), DAI-10(Drug Attitude Inventory-10), JCDSS(Japanese Calgary Depression Scale for Schizophrenics), SFS(Social Functioning Scale), JSQLS(Japanese Schizophrenia Quality of Life Scale), DUP(Duration of Untreated Period) and we researched the social situation of the patients about life history, familial history, type and dose of antipsychotics, age of onset, history of hospitalization, years of schooling, whether to use social welfare services or not.

At this time, this study is still in progress. The research of only patients with schizophrenia who is working has finished. Although it is deferent from main purpose, we classified the patients who is working into two groups(remission/non-remission) based on a definition of the remission of Andreasen and compared two groups(Table1,2,3).

We’ll be able to report on the results including patients with schizophrenia who is not working. and we expect finding out the factors which determine whether they work or not.

We have succeeded in synthesizing organics, ‘Quenched Nitrogen-included Carbonaceous Composite (QNCC)’, via plasma chemical vapor deposition (CVD) method, whose infrared spectral properties reproduce the characteristics of the unidentified infrared (UIR) bands observed around classical novae. Past studies have shown that the UIR bands observed around novae appear somewhat differently from those observed in other astrophysical environment and are predominantly characterized by the presence of a broad 8μm feature. The remarkable similarity between the infrared properties of QNCC and the UIR bands in novae indicates that QNCC should be considered as a strong candidate of the carriers of the UIR bands in novae. Finally, we have started a space exposure experiment of QNCC aiming to explore the evolutional link between the QNCC and the insoluble organic molecule (IOM) in carbonaceous condrite and, thus, to infer the origins of organics in our solar system.

The unidentified infrared (UIR) bands have been ubiquitously observed in various astrophysical environments and consist of a series of emission features arising from aromatic and/or aliphatic C-C and C-H bonds [1]. Therefore, their carriers are thought to be related to interstellar organics. However, our knowledge on the true carriers of the UIR bands is still limited. Recently [4] has proposed Mixed Aromatic Aliphatic Organic Nanoparticles, which contains hetero atoms in addition to conventional hydrocarbon models, as a more realistic interpretation of the band carriers. The challenges toward identifying the carriers of the UIR bands are still ongoing. Past studies have shown that the UIR bands observed around classical novae, which characterized by the presence of broad feature around 8μm[2], are somewhat different from those observed in other astrophysical environment. Here we report the success of experimentally synthesizing the organics called Nitrogen-included Carbonaceous Compounds (NCC; [7]) whose infrared properties can reproduce the UIR bands observed in classical novae.

Edingtonite and yugawaralite showing sectoral textures were studied by polarized optical microscopy and X-ray analysis. In edingtonite, the m{110} sector (2Vα = 22°) is optically triclinic and the c{001} sector (2Vα = 52°) is orthorhombic. In yugawaralite, the k{011} sector is optically monoclinic, whereas the v{120} sector is triclinic. Their crystal structures were determined. The results of refinement showed that the space groups of the k{011} (Rw = 4.5%) and v{120} (Rw = 5.1%) growth sectors are monoclinic Pc and triclinic P1, respectively. In the v{120} sector, several interatomic distances, bond angles and site occupancies are different with respect to a symmetrical plane of the structure, and therefore the monoclinic c glide is extinct. Thus, the X-ray symmetry correlates with the optical one. From the relationship between the surface and internal texture, the symmetry and sector can be explained by cation (Al/Si) ordering during non-equilibrium crystal growth.

In nature, when hazardous geophysical granular flows (e.g. a snow avalanche) impact on an obstacle as they stream down a slope, rapid changes in flow depth, direction and velocity will occur. It is important to understand how granular material flows around such obstacles in order to enhance the design of defense structures. In this study, a three dimensional (3-D) Smoothed Particle Hydrodynamics (SPH) model is developed to simulate granular flow past different types of obstacles. The elastic–perfectly plastic model with implementation of the Mohr–Coulomb failure criterion is applied to simulate the material behavior, which describes the stress states of soil in the plastic flow regime. The model was validated by simulating the collapse of a 3-D column of sand with two different aspect ratios; the results showed that the SPH method is capable of simulating granular flow. The model is then applied to simulate the gravity-driven granular flow down an inclined surface obstructed by a group of columns with different spacing, a circular cylinder and a tetrahedral wedge. The numerical results are then compared with experimental results and two different numerical solutions. The good agreements obtained from these comparisons demonstrate that the SPH method may be a powerful method for simulating granular flow and can be extended to design protective structures.

Extended abstract of a paper presented at Microscopy and Microanalysis 2013 in Indianapolis, Indiana, USA, August 4 – August 8, 2013.

Extended abstract of a paper presented at Microscopy and Microanalysis 2013 in Indianapolis, Indiana, USA, August 4 – August 8, 2013.

Mucosal mast cells (MMC) play a crucial role in the expulsion of Strongyloides ratti adults from the small intestine of mice. We reported the large intestinal parasitism of S. ratti in rats, and there has been no report on MMC in the large intestine of the natural host. We studied kinetics of MMC, together with eosinophils, in the upper and lower small intestines, caecum and colon of infected rats. Two distinct phases of mastocytosis were revealed: one in the upper small intestine triggered by stimulation of ‘ordinary’ adults, and the other in the colon stimulated by ‘immune-resistant’ adults that started parasitizing the colon around 19 days post-infection. In all 4 intestinal sites, the MMC peaks were observed 5–7 days after the number of adult worms became the maximum and the height of MMC peaks appeared to be dependent on the number of parasitic adults, suggesting an important role played by worms themselves in the MMC buildup.

During the development of oocytes from early antral follicles (EAFs) to antral follicles (AFs), the mitochondrial DNA copy number (Mt DNA number) increases, and granulosa cells markedly proliferate. This study examined the effect of supplementation of culture medium with estradiol-17β (E2) on the in vitro growth of oocytes, and increases in the Mt DNA number, and telomere length during the in vitro culture of oocytes derived from EAFs (0.4–0.7 mm in diameter). The E2 supplementation improved antrum formation and the ratio of oocytes reaching the metaphase II (MII) stage, and there was a significant difference in these values between addition E2 concentrations of 10 μg/ml and 0.1 μg/ml. When the oocytes were cultured in the medium containing 10 μg/ml E2, the Mt DNA number determined by real-time polymerase chain reaction (PCR) significantly increased, and the ratio of the Mt DNA number at the end of culture to the Mt DNA number at the beginning of the culture was greatly different among cows, and could be predicted by the degree of the difference between the Mt DNA number of oocytes derived from EAFs and that of oocytes derived from AFs (3–6 mm in diameter). When oocytes were cultured for 16 days in a medium containing 10 μg/ml E2 or 0.1 μg/ml E2, the Mt DNA number of oocytes grown in vitro did not differ, but the telomere length of the granulosa cells was significantly greater in the 10 μg/ml E2 group than in the 0.1 μg/ml group. In conclusion, E2 supplementation in culture medium improved the growth of oocytes derived from EAFs, and a high E2 concentration increased the telomere length of the granulosa cells.

Often, silver nanoparticles (AgNps) are looked at in the realm of their plasmonic effects that are characterized by unique absorptional bands in the visible spectrum. Herein, the kinetics of a simple gravity mediated sedimentation process of AgNps, in aqueous suspensions. The surface energy mismatch between the AgNps and the receiver substrate allow for the formation of irregularly shaped AgNp microclusters with interconnected microchannels with dimensions and particle density controlled by the distance between the exposed substrate surface and the water/suspension interface. An investigation of the interplay between these properties and the films’ nanoparticle density is presented.