At mass-gathering events of the Olympic and Paralympic Games, a well-organized, on-site medical system is essential. This study evaluated the vulnerabilities of the prehospital medical system of the TOKYO 2020 Olympic and Paralympic Games (TOKYO2020) to propose corrections that can be generalized to other mass gatherings. The healthcare failure mode and effect analysis (HFMEA) was adopted to analyze vulnerabilities of the on-site medical system proposed by the organizing committee of TOKYO2020. Processes from detecting a patient on the scene to completing transport to a hospital were analyzed. Ten processes with 47 sub-processes and 122 possible failure modes were identified. HFMEA revealed 9 failure modes as vulnerabilities: misidentification of patient, delayed immediate care at the scene, misjudgment of disposition from the on-site medical suite, and inappropriate care during transportation to hospital. Proposed corrections included surveillance to decrease blind spots, first aid brochures for spectators, and uniform protocol for health care providers at the scene. The on-site medical system amended by HFMEA seemed to work appropriately in TOKYO2020.

Tiny samples of ancient atmosphere in air bubbles within ice cores contain argon (Ar), which can be used to reconstruct past temperature changes. At a sufficient depth, the air bubbles are compressed by the overburden pressure under low temperature and transform into air-hydrate crystals. While the oxygen (O2) and nitrogen (N2) molecules have indeed been identified in the air-hydrate crystals with Raman spectroscopy, direct observational knowledge of the distribution of Ar at depth within ice sheet and its enclathration has been lacking. In this study, we applied scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and energy-dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (EDS) to five air-hydrate crystals in the Greenland NEEM ice core, finding them to contain Ar and N. Given that Ar cannot be detected by Raman spectroscopy, the method commonly used for O2 and N2, the SEM-EDS measurement method may become increasingly useful for measuring inert gases in deep ice cores.

A 13-year-old girl with a single ventricle and bilateral systemic-to-pulmonary shunts developed hypoxia due to shunt stenosis, which was caused by a methicillin-sensitive Staphylococcus aureus abscess. Stent implantation associated with appropriate antibiotic administration was crucial to dilate and maintain shunt patency.

We investigated the effects of microparticles and grain size on the microstructural evolutions and mechanical properties of polycrystalline ice. Uniaxial compression tests were conducted using fine-grained pure ice and silica-dispersed ice under various conditions. Deformation behavior of fine-grained ice was found to be characterized by stress exponent n ≈ 2 and activation energy Q ≈ 60 kJ mol−1. The derived strain rates of fine-grained ice were ≈ 1 order of magnitude larger than those of coarse-grained ice obtained in previous studies, and they were found to be independent of particle dispersion and dependent on the mean grain size of ice, with grain size exponent p ≈ 1.4. Work hardening was observed in dislocation creep, while the strain rate continued to decrease. These results indicate that the deformation mechanism of fine-grained ice is different from typical dislocation creep, often associated with n = 3. Although microparticles restricted grain growth, there was little direct effect on the deformation of fine-grained ice. Microstructural observations of the ice samples indicated that the grain boundaries were straight and that the subgrain boundary densities increased after deformation. Our experiments suggest that grain size and boundaries play important roles in the deformation processes of polycrystalline ice.

The present international scenario recognizes organic agriculture as an innovative solution to reduce agrochemicals and practices that degrade the agroecosystem. Yet, the shift from an already well-established agricultural model to a relatively new one is a challenging task and requires further scientific support. This work investigated the influence of transitional management – TM (from conventional to organic agriculture) on the soil fungal community under citrus, in dry and rainy periods. From 2012 to 2015 on, an area in Mogi Guaçú, SP, Brazil was selected, and two treatments were installed: a conventional management (CM) system based on farming practices with agrochemicals and fertilizers use, and another, transition management (TM) based on a 25% reduction per year of the chemical substances used in CM, with soil conditioner bokashi introduced. The performance of the transition system was evaluated in the context of soil fertility and diversity index of fungal taxa, by plate culture isolation, through the richness of Margalef (Dmg), diversity of Shannon (H′) and reverse Simpson (D). Differences in the occurrence and frequency of Paecilomyces, greater under CM and Penicillium, greater under TM, highlighted the influence of the management system employed. Richness and diversity indices were higher under TM. Principal component analysis revealed that 49.9% of the differences in fungal diversity was due to the management system. Only 16.5% was a result of the season of sampling. Four years of reduction/replacement of chemical practices in TM was sufficient to modify and favor some soil fungal taxa and consequently their activity. This research brings promising results to organic agriculture initiatives with relevant results for a tropical climate area.

The Magellanic Clouds offer the opportunity to obtain a spatially resolved view of external galaxies at reduced metallicity with no distance ambiguity. Our ALMA observations of the active star-forming region N83C in the Small Magellanic Cloud (SMC) revealed subparsec-scale molecular structures in 12CO and 13CO (2-1) emission Muraoka et al. (2017). We found strong CO peaks associated with Young Stellar Objects(YSOs) and derived a typical gas density of ∽104 cm−3 and gas temperature of 40-60 K from the excitation analysis. The high gas density and temperature are presumably due to the effect of the HII region under the low-metallicity environment. We have found that the column density ratios N(CI)/N(CO) are generally high throughout the cloud compared with the Galaxy, ranging from 0.2 to 2.0. A peak of the ratio is observed toward a CO peak associated with a massive protostar.

We have constructed a chemical evolution model in order to reproduce the both metallicity distribution functions (MDFs) of red giant branch stars (RGBs) and RR Lyrae stars (RRLs) of a dwarf galaxy, simultaneously. The detailed chemical abundances of RGBs of the Local Group dwarf galaxies have been measured by spectroscopic observations. Moreover, the metallicity of RRLs of a dwarf galaxy are estimated by using the theoretical period-luminosity relations in the previous study and it is found that the mean metallicity of RRLs are lower than that of RGBs. In order to investigate the MDFs of RGBs and RRLs, we combine our chemical evolution model with the stellar evolutionally isochrones and calculate the metallicity of RGBs and RRLs, respectively. As a result, our chemical evolution model reproduces the peak metallicity of both MDFs of RGBs and RRLs of Sculptor and Fornax dwarf spheroidal galaxies (dSphs), simultaneously. Therefore, it is found that the difference of the mean metallicity between RGBs and RRLs are caused by the effects of stellar evolution. Moreover, by using the theoretical period-luminosity-metallicity relation of the RRLs, our chemical evolution model determines that the distance modulus of Sculptor and Fornax dSphs are 19.68 ± 0.09 and ${20.81^{+0.13}_{-0.11}}$, respectively. However, our model underestimates the number of metal-rich RRLs ([Fe/H] > −1.5) of Fornax dSph. This result suggests that the mass-loss rate of metal-rich RGBs would be larger than that of metal-poor RGBs.

This report outlines the need for the development of an advanced course in mass-casualty life support (MCLS) and introduces the course content. The current problems with education on disasters involving chemical agents, biological agents, radiation/nuclear attacks, or explosives (CBRNE) in Japan are presented. This newly developed “MCLS-CBRNE” program was created by a Ministry of Health, Labour, and Welfare (Tokyo, Japan) research group based on these circumstances. Modifications were then made after a trial course. Training opportunities for relevant organizations to learn how to act at a CBRNE disaster site currently are lacking. The developed course covers initial responses at a disaster site. This one-day training course comprises lectures, three tabletop simulations, and practical exercises in pre-decontamination triage and post-decontamination triage. With regard to field exercises conducted to date, related organizations have experienced difficulties in understanding each other and adapting their approaches. Tabletop simulations provide an opportunity for participants to learn how organizations working on-site, including fire, police, and medical personnel, act with differing goals and guiding principles. This course appears useful as a means for relevant organizations to understand the importance of developing common guidelines. The MCLS-CBRNE training is proposed to support CBRNE disaster control measures during future events.

AnanH, OtomoY, KondoH, HommaM, KoidoY, MorinoK, OshiroK, HarikaeK, AkasakaO. Development of Mass-casualty Life Support-CBRNE (MCLS-CBRNE) in Japan. Prehosp Disaster Med. 2016;31(5):547–550.

We have synthesized and investigated electronic properties of several non-centrosymmetric actinide compounds, which do not have an inversion center in the crystal structure “globally” or “locally”, under high pressure. The Néel temperature of an antiferromagnet UIrSi3 with “globally” non-centrosymmetric structure increases with increasing pressure at a rate of 2.5 K/GPa up to 5 GPa. On the other hand, T Ns of U2Rh3Si5 and U2Ir3Si5, which are “locally” non-centrosymmetric compounds, decrease with -1 K/GPa and -0.5 K/GPa with increasing pressure, respectively. Here, U2Ir3Si5 is a new antiferromagnet crystallizing in the U2Co3Si5-type of orthorhombic structure. Below T N = 36.5 K, U2Ir3Si5 shows magnetic order-order transition at T 0 = 26.1 K with a first-order nature. Electrical resistivity in U2Ir3Si5 shows semiconducting-like behavior due to the formation of the super-zone gap in the antiferromagnetic state. T N and T 0 as well as semi-conducting-like behavior in resistivity are suppressed by external pressure.