We use cookies to distinguish you from other users and to provide you with a better experience on our websites. Close this message to accept cookies or find out how to manage your cookie settings.
To send content items to your account,
please confirm that you agree to abide by our usage policies.
If this is the first time you use this feature, you will be asked to authorise Cambridge Core to connect with your account.
Find out more about sending content to .
To send content items to your Kindle, first ensure no-reply@cambridge.org
is added to your Approved Personal Document E-mail List under your Personal Document Settings
on the Manage Your Content and Devices page of your Amazon account. Then enter the ‘name’ part
of your Kindle email address below.
Find out more about sending to your Kindle.
Note you can select to send to either the @free.kindle.com or @kindle.com variations.
‘@free.kindle.com’ emails are free but can only be sent to your device when it is connected to wi-fi.
‘@kindle.com’ emails can be delivered even when you are not connected to wi-fi, but note that service fees apply.
We have developed a group of school-based universal prevention programs for children's health and adjustment. The programs are characterized by new theories such as the somatic-marker hypothesis and enjoyable methods that utilize animated stories and games. This study adopted one of the programs for the development of self-confidence.
Objective
The aim was to examine the effectiveness of the program. In addition to the direct purposes of the program, children's adjustments at school and homeroom class were evaluated as extended effects.
Methods
Participants were third grade children in six public elementary schools in Japan. The final sample included 442 children (219 boys and 223 girls). The program was implemented weekly in one regular 45-minute class over 8 weeks. Participants completed a battery of three questionnaires three times, 1 month before the start of the program (T1), 1 week before the start of the program (T2), and during 1 week after the last class of the program (T3).
Results
Results showed that all of the main endpoints of the program significantly improved in the intervention condition (i.e., changes from T2 to T3), compared to the control condition (i.e., changes from T1 to T2). Moreover, children's adjustment at school and homeroom class increased in the intervention condition, compared to the control condition. However, implicit affect was unchanged.
Conclusion
This study suggests that the program is effective for enhancing self-confidence, along with adjustments at school and in class. Future research that examines the sustainability of the effectiveness of the program is planned.
Disclosure of interest
The authors have not supplied their declaration of competing interest.
Although organised haematoma often induces bone thinning and destruction similar to malignant diseases, the aetiology of organised haematoma and the optimal treatment remain unclear. This paper presents the clinical features of individuals with organised haematoma, and describes cases in which a novel modified approach was successfully applied for resection of organised haematoma in the maxillary sinus.
Method:
Pre-operative examination data were evaluated retrospectively. Modified transnasal endoscopic medial maxillectomy was employed.
Results:
Fourteen patients with organised haematoma were treated. Contrast-enhanced computed tomography showed heterogeneous enhancement in all patients. Eight patients underwent modified transnasal endoscopic medial maxillectomy, without complications such as facial numbness, tooth numbness, facial tingling, lacrimation and eye discharge. Dissection of the apertura piriformis and anterior maxillary wall was not necessary for any of these eight patients. No recurrence was observed.
Conclusion:
Pre-operative examinations can be helpful in determining the likelihood of organised haematoma. Modified transnasal endoscopic medial maxillectomy appears to be a safe and effective method for organised haematoma resection.
In the previous work, it is reported that the Spin-Seebeck effect (SSE), which refer to the generation of a spin current from a temperature gradient, can be enhanced by Fe interface treatment. Here, we investigated the Fe thickness (dFe) dependency of spin-Seebeck voltage (VSSE) and mixing conductance (gr) in Pt/Fe/Bi:YIG/SGGG system. As a result, magnitude of VSSE had a peak at dFe ≓ 1 ML (monolayer , ≓ 0.3 mm), and also increase of gr was saturated at this point. It suggests that VSSE increase with increasing gr when dFe is smaller than 1.0 ML. For the case in which dFe is larger than 1.0ML, however, VSSE decreases due to a spin current decay in Fe layer with a constant gr. These experimental results are consistent with previous theoretical works.
To investigate the pathogenesis of cholesteatoma, we planned to conduct a cohort study. As a first step, we conducted an epidemiological study in Fukuoka City, Japan to determine the incidence of cholesteatoma treated both with and without surgery. We also conducted a case–control study to investigate the pathogenesis of cholesteatoma.
Results:
The annual incidence of cholesteatoma, including cases treated without surgery, was 6.8–10.0 in a population of 100 000. The results of the case–control study suggested that a past history of otitis media and habitual sniffing caused by a patulous eustachian tube play a role in the pathogenesis of cholesteatoma.
Conclusions:
The annual incidence of cholesteatoma, including cases treated without surgery, was considered to not be high enough to perform a cohort study. The results of the case–control study suggest that otitis media and habitual sniffing due to a patulous eustachian tube, contribute to the onset of cholesteatoma.
Recently, the issue of sustainable resource management has been increasingly recognized.
Economic growth of human activity is associated with a rapid rise in the use of resources
in our economy, and society has a potential environmental impact. The UNEP International
Resource Panel (IRP) pointed out the importance of decoupling resource use and negative
environmental impacts from economic activity (UNEP IRP 2011). In order to
optimize the material cycles and increase resource efficiency, material flow analysis
(MFA) is a powerful tool to understand the resource consumption and material cycle in the
national economy. In this study, we present the results of global material flow analysis
of nickel, which is one of the important resources for reducing energy use and
CO2 emission in
our society, and discuss the importance and possibility of controlling its resource
logistics. This study also introduces the challenge of identifying the land-use changes in
nickel mining sites by a remote-sensing technique, and knowledge to increase the resource
efficiency in metal recycling based on the metallurgical thermodynamic approach. The
results indicated the importance of recovery of nickel in recycling policies for
end-of-life (EoL) vehicles and constructions. Improvement in EoL sorting technologies and
implementation of designs for recycling/disassembly at the manufacturing phase are needed.
Possible solutions include development of sorting processes for steel scrap and
introduction of easier methods for identifying the composition of secondary resources.
Recovery of steel scrap with a high alloy content will reduce primary inputs of alloying
elements and contribute to more efficient resource use.
We describe the current, 9-spacecraft Interplanetary Network (IPN). The IPN detects about
325 gamma-ray bursts per year, of which about 100 are not localized by any other missions.
We give some examples of how the data, which are public, can be utilized.
This study determined the prevalence and antimicrobial susceptibility of Salmonella isolated from broiler flocks in Japan. Caecal dropping samples were collected from 288 broiler flocks between November 2007 and February 2010. Salmonella was prevalent in 248 (86·1%) broiler flocks. The top three serovars were S. Infantis, S. Manhattan and S. Schwarzengrund. S. Infantis was found in all regions tested in this study. However, S. Manhattan and S. Schwarzengrund were frequently found only in the western part of Japan. High antimicrobial resistance rates were observed against oxytetracycline (90·2%), dihydrostreptomycin (86·7%) and ampicillin (36·5%), and 258 (90·5%) of 285 isolates were resistant to two or more antimicrobial agents. Interestingly, 26·3% of isolates were resistant to ceftiofur, especially 38·1% of S. Infantis isolates, although its use in broilers has not been approved in Japan. This study showed that Salmonella is highly prevalent (86·1%) in Japanese broiler flocks, that 90·5% of Salmonella isolates were multidrug-resistant, and that S. Infantis frequently exhibited resistance to cephalosporin antimicrobial agents.
Using an ab initio density functional theory (DFT), we study thin film electronic properties of topological insulators (TIs) based on ternary compounds of Tl (thallium) and Bi (bismuth). We consider TlBiX2 (X=Se, Te) and Bi2X2Y (X, Y=Se, Te) compounds. Here we discuss the nature of surface states, their locations in the Brillouin Zone (BZ) and their interactions within the bulk region. Our calculations suggest a critical film thickness to maintain the Dirac cone which is smaller than that in binary Bi-based compounds. Atomic relaxations are found to affect the Dirac cone in some of these compounds. We discuss the penetration depth of surface states into the bulk region.
In this study, aluminized, boronized, chromized and siliconized gray cast iron plate specimens were prepared, and their microstructures and tribological properties were investigated. The surfaces of the aluminized, boronized, chromized and siliconized specimens mainly consisted of FeAl, Fe2B, (Cr, Fe)23C6 and FeSi phases, respectively. Also, the surface of the boronized specimen exhibited the highest microvickers hardness of all the specimens. The aluminized, boronized and chromized specimens exhibited friction coefficients as low as the non-coated specimens when sliding against AISI 52100 steel ball specimens in poly-alpha-olefin. In addition, the boronized and chromized specimens exhibited much higher wear resistance than the non-coated specimens.
The nodal SDW order parameter on a cylindrical Fermi surface is thought to create the Dirac cone in the metallic ground state of iron pnictides and iron chalcogenides. Confirming appearance of the Dirac cone in DFT-GGA solutions of FeSe, we discuss origin of the bulk SDW order parameter in the stacked two-dimensional electronic system. In a layered system with vanishingly small inter-layer single-particle hopping processes, the exchange channels derived for the inter-plane magnetic interaction is the super-exchange counterpart of the two-particle Coulomb scattering for the pair-hopping channel in the layered superconductivity. The fluctuation reference method of the multi-reference density functional theory concludes existence of the inter-layer super-exchange interaction by the Coulomb off-diagonal elements among orbitals in the semi-metallic band structure. Thus a proof of 2D nature of the third generation Dirac cone in iron pnictides induced by SDW also promotes understanding of the high-temperature superconductivity.
Human salmonellosis cases, particularly those caused by Salmonella Enteritidis, have been closely linked to egg consumption. This epidemiological survey was conducted to determine the baseline Salmonella prevalence and identify the risk factors for Salmonella prevalence in laying-hen farms in Japan. Caecal excrement samples and dust samples were obtained from 400 flocks in 338 laying-hen farms. Salmonella was identified in 20·7% of the farms and 19·5% of the flocks. The prevalence of Salmonella was significantly higher in flocks reared in windowless houses than in those reared in open houses. In addition, the risk of Salmonella presence was significantly higher when the windowless house farms implemented induced moulting or in-line egg processing. Efforts to reduce human salmonellosis in Japan should continue to focus on the establishment of control measures in laying-hen farms, especially those with windowless houses implementing induced moulting and equipped with in-line egg processing.
Electroabsorption spectroscopy of well-identified index-defined semiconducting carbon nanotubes is reported. The measurement of high definition electroabsorption spectra allows direct indexation with unique nanotube chirality. Results show that at least for a limited range of diameters, electroabsorption is directly proportional to the exciton binding energy of nanotubes. Electroabsorption is a powerful technique which directly probes into carbon nanotube excitonic states, and may become a useful tool for in situ study of excitons in future nanotube-based photonic devices such as electroabsorption modulators.
Resonant elastic X-ray scattering (RXS) at the erbium absorption edge was investigated in the orbital-ordered compound ErVO3. An RXS signal resonating near the Er L3-edge was clearly observed at (1 0 0). Using this signal, we studied the relation between the anisotropy of the Er 5d orbital and the V 3d orbital ordering because the covalency between the Er 5d and V 3d orbitals is expected to stabilize the C-type orbital ordering of the V 3d electrons.
The orbital ordering in perovskite-type vanadium oxides, RVO3 (R: rare earth), has been investigated by resonant X-ray scattering (RXS) near the V K-edge energy. The G-type orbital order, C-type orbital order and orbital disorder phases are elucidated on the basis of the azimuthal-angle and polarization dependence of the RXS signal reflecting the orbital ordering.
The effect of non-uniformities on the flow of electric current in weakly ionized plasmas is investigated by taking into account the ion slip as well as the Hall current. An Ohm's law for a non-uniform plasma is derived, from which the formula previously obtained by Numano, i.e. an extension of Rosa's equation, is obtainable as a special case. Making use of this new Ohm's law, the effective electrical conductivity and the effective Hall parameter are determined for isotropically turbulent plasmas. It is found that when the ion-slip effect is absent they are in good agreement with the results obtained previously.
In this study, we fabricated and examined a series of multiphase type composites constructed of Nb-doped SrTiO3 / TiO2 fine particles. The composition of the composites and the sintering temperatures were selected in a two-phase region where a perovskite SrTiO3 and a rutile TiO2 phases coexist. The composites obtained here were found to commonly have a mosaic type texture constructed of TiO2 and SrTiO3 fine particles with a typical size of about 500 nm. In some samples we also found additive phases such as Sr6Ti7Nb9O42. The thermal conductivity values measured for the most samples with different contents are ranged between 2 and 5 Wm-1K-1. The values are apparently lower than the value for single crystal SrTiO3 samples presented in literature. A sample with rather low relative density of about 80% showed a quite low thermal conductivity, about 1 Wm-1K-1. Taking account the other TE data, e.g. Seebeck coefficient and electrical conductivity, we calculated dimensionless figure of merit, ZT, to be at maximum 0.24 at 600°C.
We report the results of mid- to far-infrared spectroscopic
observations of Galactic star-forming regions with ISO, Spitzer, and
AKARI. Owing to the high sensitivity of the IRS onboard Spitzer, we
detected [Si II] 35 μm, [Fe II] 26 μm, and [Fe III] 23 μm lines widely
in low-density star-forming regions, and derived gas-phase Si and Fe
abundances as 3–100% and <22%, respectively. With the FTS
onboard AKARI, we obtained the spatial distribution of
the [O III] 88 μm emission in two star-forming regions.