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Hokkaido--India native Rizwan Alam rises at 4 a.m
as an employee of Mishima Stud here to begin his work
He then rides on the back of a yearling that he is responsible for
Alam is tasked with training horses to ride with humans
he returns to a dormitory near the stable to eat lunch with his family
which is said to be India's national sport
Alam communicates with Japanese in broken English
Indian colleagues interpret for him to provide explanations in his native tongue
“He is firmly determined to take care of his entire family,” said Kenta Fujii
“He is diligent and respects his superiors--a feature that may be common among Indians
They have strong ties and care for each other while on duty.”
One of every 30 residents is now Indian in Urakawa
which is Japan’s most renowned thoroughbred-producing area
A staggering 80 percent of racehorses are produced in the Hidaka region of Hokkaido
Urakawa is particularly famous as a leading production area in Hidaka
A national breeding farm was installed in Urakawa during the Meiji Era (1868-1912)
the five-time champion Shinzan is especially noted as the superstar of the Showa Era (1926-1989)
the shortage of labor in the horseracing industry has accelerated over the last 10 years or so
Urakawa thus started inviting and hiring skilled trainers from Southeast Asia and Africa
A rapidly growing number of farms reportedly began employing Indian trainers
after word spread that their work styles and personalities are ideal for positions in Urakawa
Starting from 2014 when there were no Indian workers in Urakawa
their number reached 371 by the end of October 2024
Alam hails from Bihar state in northern India
one of the poorest regions across the nation
the sport of riding horses and hitting a ball with sticks
He served as a trainer for nine years in Qatar
Hearing from a friend in Urakawa that his “salary can go up 20,000 yen ($128) to 30,000 yen” more than what he was making
Alam came to Japan in 2022 to show off his skills in the “slightly cold but pleasant destination.”
Alam found many of the comforts of home and a supportive community for Indian immigrants
A grocery store offers a range of spices in Urakawa
which are distributed by local governments to expectant mothers
Urakawa town released a maternal and child-health handbook in Hindi
A local supermarket is expanding its lineup of milk
yogurt and other items Indians typically buy in bulk
Bharat Restaurant is characterized by a noticeable yellow sign among horse farms
recommends curries with a spice level of 2 or 3 for Japanese guests
while Indian patrons often prefer level 10
Finding Indian features in every corner of the town
Alam invited his family to Urakawa a year earlier
A remaining challenge is the language barrier
Mothers from India often return to their homeland for educational purposes when their children turn 5 years old
said he is worried about the future of his offspring as well
“I want him to study in Urakawa but feel at the same time that an English school is necessary,” said Alam
“English education is important in particular in India.”
People from the major South Asian country with the world's largest population of more than 1.4 billion speak not only the official language of Hindi but also Marwari and other minor languages
As many as 21 languages are officially recognized as state tongues in the Constitution to reflect the nation’s diverse ethnic groups and religions
Minakshi Soni arrived in the town last August under the Japan Exchange and Teaching (JET) Program
aiming to promote foreign language education and global interactions in the local municipality
came from a town in Rajasthan state in India
As she was raised by her Marwari-speaking father who was a goldwork artisan
Soni became enchanted by the beauty of a Japan-made light green vase treated with gold during her childhood
Soni started attending a weekly Japanese language class
She spent six years passing the advanced level of a Japanese language test
securing a Japanese teacher post at a junior high school in India
a friend informed Soni about a “job offer that best suits you.” Soni therefore decided to head for Urakawa
Soni currently serves as an interpreter for Indians who show up at the town office for tax consultations
She likewise translates the municipality’s notices
“I am happy to be able to support Indians in Japan
as I had longed to work in the country for many years,” said Soni
Another mission of Soni is assisting in Indian kids’ learning
She goes to an elementary school in Urakawa twice a week where two Indian children are enrolled
Though a first-grade boy who came to Japan last spring has gradually become able to understand the Japanese spoken by his teacher at the primary school
Soni stressed that further support is essential
Her reasoning is that Indian parents frequently do not use Japanese
making it difficult for children to receive help with their assignments at home
“My hope is teaching Japanese for adults as well as children,” said Soni
Soni's latest endeavor is offering a weekly Hindi lesson for Japanese
“I would like both Japanese and Indians to learn from one another to further deepen friendship,” she said
Her journey as a liaison between India and Urakawa has just started
as the JET program lasts for up to five years
Foreign workers the winning ticket at horse racing stables
Forget stereotype and explore the real India
Nishi-Kasai’s Little India is a model of expat integration
Ranch aims to save as many retired horses as possible
Information on the latest cherry blossom conditions
Please right click to use your browser’s translation function.)
A series based on diplomatic documents declassified by Japan’s Foreign Ministry
Here is a collection of first-hand accounts by “hibakusha” atomic bomb survivors
chefs and others involved in the field of food introduce their special recipes intertwined with their paths in life
A series about Japanese-Americans and their memories of World War II
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Methods: We analyzed the correlations between event-related spectral perturbation (ERSP) and inter-trial phase coherence (ITPC) in the theta band and the proportion of perceptual alternation from before to after the presentation of deviation in the same experimental paradigm as in our previous study.
Results: We found that an increase in ITPC in the theta band tended to correlate with facilitation of perceptual alternation in binocular rivalry when the deviant was presented unconsciously, but there was no significant correlation in ERSP.
Discussion: The results suggest that theta phase coherence underlying the visual mismatch process is relevant to the access processing.
Volume 17 - 2023 | <a class="ArticleLayoutHeader__info__doi" href="https://doi.org/10.3389/fnhum.2023.1051844">https://doi.org/10.3389/fnhum.2023.1051844</a>
Introduction: The electroencephalographic brain response to a deviation from the preceding sequential regularity of visual events
is well known to reflect automatic visual change detection
Our preliminary study showed a significant correlation between the enhancement of the vMMN amplitude and facilitation of perceptual alternation in binocular rivalry when the deviant stimulus was presented unconsciously
This implies that the vMMN is relevant to access processing
in which the unconscious stimulus is consciously perceived
Recent studies have reported that theta band oscillation evoked by a deviant stimulus is involved in evoking vMMN
it has not been clarified whether theta band oscillation associated with vMMN is also relevant to access processing
Methods: We analyzed the correlations between event-related spectral perturbation (ERSP) and inter-trial phase coherence (ITPC) in the theta band and the proportion of perceptual alternation from before to after the presentation of deviation in the same experimental paradigm as in our previous study
Results: We found that an increase in ITPC in the theta band tended to correlate with facilitation of perceptual alternation in binocular rivalry when the deviant was presented unconsciously
but there was no significant correlation in ERSP
Discussion: The results suggest that theta phase coherence underlying the visual mismatch process is relevant to the access processing
theta activity appears to be involved in unconscious neural processing [Hereafter
access processing to visual awareness (APVA)] that determines whether the unconscious visual stimulus is consciously perceived
theta band neural activity (4&#x02013;8 Hz) is thought to be involved in shaping a conscious perception in binocular rivalry
They presented target stimuli (standard and deviant) consciously or unconsciously using binocular rivalry and then observed the proportion of perceptual alternation from before to after the onset of the target stimulus and electroencephalography (EEG) signals
The results of the experiment showed a positive correlation between the enhancement of vMMN amplitude and the facilitation of perceptual alternation when the deviant was presented unconsciously
the previous study did not evaluate induced responses such as oscillatory activities but only neural activity time-locked to the stimulus onset
our previous study did not disclose a full picture of visual mismatch processing underlying APVA
This indicates that oscillatory responses in the theta band are related to the neural mechanism of the visual mismatch process
If theta band activity is related to the cognitive process of conscious perception as described in the first paragraph
vMORs in the theta band will also play an important role in APVA
we hypothesized that vMORs in the theta band are involved in the neural mechanisms of APVA
The purpose of the present study is to examine the relationship between theta band vMORs and APVA. To clarify whether vMORs in the theta band affect APVA, we further analyzed ERSP and inter-trial phase coherence (ITPC) in the theta band for EEG data in our previous study (<a style="color:red;" href="#B23">Kurita et al., 2021</a>)
We then investigated the inter-individual variability between ERSP/ITPC enhancement in the theta band and the proportion of perceptual alternations
The present study is expected to clarify whether neural processing related to vMORs
In the present study, while the experimental paradigm, participants, and the behavioral and recorded EEG data are common to our previous study (<a style="color:red;" href="#B23">Kurita et al., 2021</a>)
analyses such as ERSP and ITPC were additionally executed to reach the goal
All participants in this study are the same as those in our previous study (<a style="color:red;" href="#B23">Kurita et al., 2021</a>)
23.2 &#x000B1; 0.76 years) participated in this experiment
All the participants were right-handed and had normal or corrected-to-normal visual acuity
Informed consent was obtained from all participants
and this study was approved by the ethics committee of Tokyo University of Science
<a style="color:red;" href="#F1">Figure 1</a> shows the stimuli and the stimulation procedure for one trial. Images were presented on a liquid crystal display (BenQ XL2540) using the MATLAB Psychophysics Toolbox (<a style="color:red;" href="#B4">Brainard, 1997</a>; <a style="color:red;" href="#B29">Pelli, 1997</a>)
The participants were presented with two computer-generated images using a mirror stereoscope
The image included annulus-shaped gratings with a spatial frequency of 1.3 cycles/degree
The outer radius of the gratings was 4.3&#x000B0; and the inner radius was 0.57&#x000B0;
A white fixation point was presented at the center of the grating image
The blue or red grating was presented on a black background
The mean luminance of the red portion was 3.56 cd/m2
whereas that of the blue portion was 2.16 cd/m2
Each grating was surrounded by three white rings that served to lock the vergence
Each white ring had a line width of 0.19&#x000B0;
The outer radius of the largest ring was 8.64&#x000B0;
and the outer edges of each of the other two smaller rings were inwardly depicted by 0.64&#x000B0; from the outer edge of the neighboring larger ring
White rings in both eyes were continuously presented throughout the stimulation period
the target stimulus yielded three conditions dependent on the subject&#x02019;s conscious/unconscious percept just before itself: the standard (STD) condition
the unconscious-deviant (Uncon-DEV) condition
and the conscious-deviant (Con-DEV) condition
the target stimulus was the same as the grating images used in the second phase
except for the duration (no change in orientation)
which appeared &#x0201C;unconsciously,&#x0201D; changed by 90&#x000B0;
which was perceived &#x0201C;consciously,&#x0201D; was changed by 90&#x000B0;
Stimuli presented to both eyes in each trial were determined based on the perceptual report immediately prior to the target stimulus
The target stimulus was immediately followed by a cue image
the white fixation cross of the target stimulus was replaced with a green fixation cross for both eyes
the participants were asked to stop pressing the left arrow key or the right arrow key immediately
They were then required to promptly report their currently perceived grating image again by pressing either the left arrow key or the right arrow key
and green fixation points were exclusively presented
Each of the three conditions contained 120 trials
The order of these stimulus conditions was randomized across trials
There were eight sessions in the present study
Participants were given rest between sessions
Analytical methods of behavioral data are common to our previous study (<a style="color:red;" href="#B23">Kurita et al., 2021</a>). Owing to the latency of the behavioral response, the timing of the participants&#x02019; keypress would lag from the perceived rivalry changes by approximately 450&#x02013;500 ms (<a style="color:red;" href="#B1">Alais et al., 2010</a>)
we first counted the trials in which participants pressed a response key for at least 500 ms immediately before the onset of the target stimulus
We then subtracted the number of trials in which a participant did not stop pressing the key or did not press it again following the onset of the cue image
trials in which participants responded within 300 ms of the cue onset were also excluded to ensure that participants had correctly checked the cue
These procedures enabled us to obtain valid trials and count the number of times when the perceived color changed from before to after the onset of the target stimulus
and then calculated the proportion of perceptual alternation for every condition
Electroencephalography (EEG) in each condition was recorded using a measurement instrument with 57 electrodes (EEG-1200
The layout of the electrodes was based on a modified version of the international 10&#x02013;20 system
The impedance of each electrode was maintained at less than 10 k&#x003A9;
EEG signals were digitized at 1 kHz and recorded with a 0.5&#x02013;300 Hz band-pass filter online
EEG signals were referenced to the right earlobe and eye movements were monitored using horizontal and vertical bipolar electrooculograms (EOGs)
The calculated ERSPs and ITPCs were subjected to a repeated-measures two-way analysis of variance (ANOVA) with factors of the conditions (Con-vMOR and Uncon-vMOR) and laterality (left and right areas)
the significance level was set at p &#x0003C; 0.05
The Spearman&#x02019;s rank-order correlation coefficients were calculated
The results of behavioral data are common to our previous study (<a style="color:red;" href="#B23">Kurita et al., 2021</a>). Those results indicate that the unconscious deviant facilitates the proportion of perceptual alternation (<a style="color:red;" href="#B34">Walker and Powell, 1979</a>). In contrast, the conscious deviant suppresses the proportion of perceptual alternation (for more detailed statistical results, see <a style="color:red;" href="#B23">Kurita et al., 2021</a>)
ERSP and ITPC to the target image for each target condition
ERSPs (A) and ITPCs (B) at the posterior area (PO3
and PO8) and their isocontour maps averaged from 4 to 8 Hz at 100 to 500 ms are illustrated for each condition
ERSPs and ITPCs in both the Con-DEV and Uncon-DEV conditions were more enhanced than those in the STD condition in the time-frequency windows of 100&#x02013;500 ms and 4&#x02013;8 Hz
<a style="color:red;" href="#F3">Figure 3</a> shows the ERSPs of Con-vMORs and Uncon-vMORs in the right and left areas
and the averaged isocontour map in the time-frequency window
An increase in ERSP was observed at 6&#x02013;8 Hz between approximately 200&#x02013;400 ms
A repeated-measures two-way ANOVA revealed that the enhancement of ERSP was not significantly affected by the condition and laterality (Condition: F (1
partial &#x003B7;2 &#x0003C; 0.01; Laterality: F (1
These results indicated that the increase of theta band ERSP by the deviant stimulus is independent of whether the deviant stimulus is presented consciously or unconsciously
and that there is no significant difference in the increase of ERSP between the left and right areas
ERSPs and their isocontour map for each condition
The panels show the ERSPs in the Con-vMOR condition in the left area (PO3
the Con-vMOR condition in the right area (PO4
the Uncon-vMOR condition in the left area (lower left panel)
the Uncon-vMOR condition in the right area (lower right panel)
and their isocontour maps (the upper map is in the Con-vMOR condition
and the lower map is in the Uncon-vMOR condition)
The black box in the ERSPs indicates a time-frequency window of 100&#x02013;500 ms and 4&#x02013;8 Hz
conscious-visual mismatch oscillatory response; Uncon-vMOR
unconscious-visual mismatch oscillatory response
<a style="color:red;" href="#F4">Figure 4</a> shows ITPCs of Con-vMORs and Uncon-vMORs in the right and left areas
An increase in ITPC was observed at 6&#x02013;8 Hz between approximately 200&#x02013;400 ms for both the Con-vMOR and the Uncon-vMOR
A repeated-measures two-way ANOVA revealed that the enhancement of ITPC was not significantly affected by the condition or laterality (Condition: F(1
partial &#x003B7;2 = 0.021; Laterality: F(1
and that the enhancement of ITPC was significantly affected by the interaction between the condition and the laterality (F(1
An analysis of multiple comparisons further revealed that the ITPC in the left area under the Uncon-vMOR condition was marginally significantly lower than that under the Con-vMOR condition (Condition in Left: F (1
a post-hoc test with a Bonferroni correction)
and the other simple main effects were not significant (Condition in Right: F (1
a post-hoc test with a Bonferroni correction; Laterality in Con-vMOR: F (1
a post-hoc test with a Bonferroni correction; Laterality in Uncon-vMOR: F (1
These results indicate that the increase of theta band ITPC in the left area by the deviant stimulus tends to differ depending on whether the deviant stimulus is presented consciously or unconsciously
ITPCs and their isocontour map for each condition
The panels show the ITPCs in the Con-vMOR condition in the left area (PO3
The black box in the ITPCs indicates a time-frequency window of 100&#x02013;500 ms and 4&#x02013;8 Hz
Focusing on the inter-individual variability in behavioral data and ERSP/ITPC in the left and right areas under the Con-vMOR and Uncon-vMOR conditions, respectively, we evaluated whether the ERSP/ITPC of vMORs in the theta band would be relevant to the facilitation or suppression of perceptual alternation. <a style="color:red;" href="#F5">Figure 5</a> shows the results of the correlation analysis for ERSP and ITPC
there was no significant correlation between the differential proportion of perceptual alternation and ERSP in either condition (Con-vMOR on the left: &#x003C1;(19) = &#x02212;0.021
p = 0.934; Con-vMOR on the right: &#x003C1;(19) = 0.016
p = 0.951; Uncon-vMOR on the left: &#x003C1;(19) = 0.139
p = 0.571; Uncon-vMOR on the right: &#x003C1;(19) = 0.201
We analyzed the four correlations between ITPC and the differential proportion of perceptual alternation (Con-vMOR on the left: &#x003C1;(19) = 0.209
p = 0.389; Con-vMOR on the right: &#x003C1;(19) = 0.051
p = 0.837; Uncon-vMOR on the left: &#x003C1;(19) = 0.507
p = 0.027; Uncon-vMOR on the right: &#x003C1;(19) = 0.271
The correlations for ERSPs and ITPCs were not significant after correcting for multiple tests for eight correlations (adjusted p &#x0003C; 0.05/8 = 0.00625 with a Bonferroni correction)
we assume that the data under the conscious and unconscious conditions are independent in later comparison because the stimuli are completely different
Further analysis of the equality of variances for ERSPs and ITPCs using Levene&#x02019;s test showed that the variances of the ERSP and ITPC groups are different (W(1
we assume that ERSPs and ITPCs are independent in the later comparison
we corrected for multiple tests for laterality with a Bonferroni correction (adjusted significance level was set at p &#x0003C; 0.05/2 = 0.025)
a positive correlation between the differential proportion of perceptual alternation and ITPC in the left area in the Uncon-vMOR condition is marginally significant
These results show that an enhancement of theta band ITPC in the left area by the unconscious deviant stimulus is correlated with the facilitation of perceptual alternation across participants
an increase in the theta band ITPC in the left posterior area is more closely related to rendering an unconsciously presented image perceived consciously than that of ERSP
Note that the correlation between ITPC in the left area and the proportion of perceptual alternation under unconscious conditions was shown based on the assumptions described above
Relationship between proportion of perceptual alternation and vMORs across participants
The correlations between the differential proportion of perceptual alternation (Uncon-DEV condition &#x02212; STD condition; Con-DEV condition &#x02212; STD condition) and ERSP/ITPC of vMORs in the theta band are shown for each condition (Con-vMOR in left: upper left panel; Con-vMOR in right: upper right panel; Uncon-vMOR in left: lower left panel; Uncon-vMOR in right: lower right panel)
There was a significant correlation between the differential proportion and enhancement of ITPC in the left area under the Uncon-vMOR condition
The present study supplementarily evaluated whether the differential proportion of perceptual alternation would be associated with ERSP or ITPC at the alpha-band across participants (see <a style="color:red;" href="#F6">Figure 6</a>)
One participant&#x02019;s data were excluded from this analysis because the data for ERSP at the left hemisphere under conscious condition exceeded the range of the mean &#x000B1; 3 SD
There was no significant correlation between the differential proportion and alpha-band ERSP/ITPC under any condition
Relationship between proportion of perceptual alternation and alpha-band ERSP/ITPC
The correlations between the differential proportion of perceptual alternation and ERSP/ITPC of vMORs in the alpha band are shown for each condition
PO8) were calculated for each participant in the time-frequency window of 100&#x02013;500 ms and 9&#x02013;13 Hz
This study attempted to clarify whether vMORs in the theta band are related to APVA
We presented the deviant stimulus under binocular suppression or dominance and then investigated the relationship between perceptual alternation and enhancement of ERSP or ITPC in the theta band
there was no significant correlation between ERSPs and ITPCs after correcting for multiple tests
assuming that the data under each condition of Conditions (conscious and unconscious conditions) and Types (ERSPs and ITPCs) are statistically independent
we found a marginally significant positive correlation between the facilitation of perceptual alternation and an increase in ITPC when the deviant stimulus was presented unconsciously
no significant correlation was observed in ERSP when the deviant stimulus was presented unconsciously
These results suggest that phase alignment in the theta band underlying the visual mismatch process is involved in APVA
The left ITPC may mainly reflect higher perceptual functions such as conflict resolution rather than the change detection reflected by vMMN
made the unconscious stimulus more likely to be consciously perceived in the present study
exogenous attention induced by the unconscious deviant seems to enhance the conscious perception of the visual stimulus presented unconsciously
these results suggest that the theta phase coherence evoked by the unconscious deviant stimulus enhanced the attentional mechanism associated with the automatic process of visual change detection
and its enhancement of the attentional mechanism makes it easier for the unconscious stimulus to be consciously perceived
This indicates that theta alignment evoked by the visual mismatch process and the accompanying enhancement of the attentional mechanism play an important role in the neural mechanism of APVA
the present study would further shed new light on the neural mechanism underlying APVA in terms of vMORs
While no significant correlation was found after correcting for multiple tests
the correlation between an increase of ITPC in the left area and the facilitation of perceptual alternation under unconscious condition was slightly effective with the assumption of statistical independence of the data
note the limitations described above (see &#x0201C;Correlation between behavioral data and vMORs&#x0201D; section)
this study should be considered to gradually provide trends in the relationship between vMORs and perceptual alternation
Further research and validation are needed to ensure the reliability of this correlation
We captured a weak but important relationship between the increase in theta-band ITPC in the left posterior area and facilitation of perceptual alternation in binocular rivalry when the deviant stimulus was presented unconsciously
with hypothesizing the statistical independence of the data for conscious and unconscious conditions
But our current experiment found no significant correlation between vMORs and perceptual alternation in binocular rivalry after correcting for multiple tests
This result may suggest that theta phase alignment associated with the visual mismatch process plays an important role in the neural mechanism of APVA
The raw data supporting the conclusions of this article will be made available by the authors
The studies involving human participants were reviewed and approved by The ethics committee of Tokyo University of Science
The patients/participants provided their written informed consent to participate in this study
YK drafted the manuscript and TU and OA edited and revised the manuscript
All authors contributed to the article and approved the submitted version
This study was supported by JSPS KAKENHI (Grant Number: 18K19826)
We would like to thank Editage (<a href="https://www.editage.com">www.editage.com</a>) for English language editing
TU was employed by the company Mazda Motor Corporation
The remaining authors declare that the research was conducted in the absence of any commercial or financial relationships that could be constructed as a potential conflict of interest
All claims expressed in this article are solely those of the authors and do not necessarily represent those of their affiliated organizations
Any product that may be evaluated in this article
or claim that may be made by its manufacturer
is not guaranteed or endorsed by the publisher
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Keywords: visual mismatch oscillatory responses (vMORs)
Urakawa T and Araki O (2023) Theta phase coherence in visual mismatch responses involved in access processing to visual awareness
Received: 23 September 2022; Accepted: 31 January 2023; Published: 23 February 2023
Copyright &#x000A9; 2023 Kurita, Urakawa and Araki. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the <a rel="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/" target="_blank">Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY)</a>
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*Correspondence: Yuki Kurita, <a id="encmail">eWt1cml0YTEyNkBnbWFpbC5jb20=</a>
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Hokkaido Prefecture in northern Japan boasts a kingdom for the "sport of kings." The Hidaka region has hundreds of ranches
and they produce about 80 percent of the nation's racehorses
The industry has been gripped by a labor shortage
A growing number of Indians are joining the community
Local residents want to ensure their new neighbors hit the ground running
The morning air in the town of Urakawa has a special
But the calm will soon give way to the thunderous sound of galloping horses
Conditioning these animals for racing is hard
but many people find it fulfilling ― and these days
"Living away from my family is a little lonely
but the environment is good," says Madan Singh
"My salary is more than double what it was at home."
moved to Urakawa in southern Hidaka seven years ago
leaving his wife and children in Rajasthan
He now spends his days tending to the horses
there were 362 ― accounting for about three percent of its population
India has a highly developed racehorse industry of its own
and many of the immigrants in Urakawa are well-qualified to help solve the labor shortage at the town's venerable ranches
"There are a lot of Indian people here," says Tsuji Yoshiaki
As more Indians move to the area with their families
the Japanese residents are keen to help them settle in
town officials created a Hindi-language maternity handbook
they started holding events where Indian women and children can interact with local Japanese residents
Inaoka Chiharu works as a Local Vitalization Cooperator under an initiative launched by the town government to support the recruitment of foreign nationals across Japan
She moved to Urakawa from Tokyo four years ago
and has been instrumental in helping the growing Indian community feel welcome
Inaoka's past experience in the travel and hospitality sectors led her to regularly visit India and learn to speak Hindi
she helps with all sorts of tasks ― from procedures at the town hall
there was no way for local officials to communicate directly with the foreign residents," she says
"I used to make my own flyers in English instead of Hindi
I distributed them in front of the supermarket."
Many of the Indian women struggle with feelings of isolation
and has become an invaluable bridge linking them to the wider community
"Women can't go out with men other than their husbands," says Anita Kanwar who is from Jodhpur in the state of Rajasthan and has daughters aged two and four
Some of the foreign wives in Urakawa have even found jobs of their own
a Mauritian whose Indian husband works on one of the ranches
Reddy landed a job at a farm after joining a strawberry-picking event organized by Inaoka
I'm no longer anxious about being among Japanese people," she says
but Inaoka says the finish line is not yet in sight
working and shopping side by side with foreigners in this town shouldn't be unusual
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The foundation of food web analysis is a solid understanding of predator-prey associations
Traditional dietary studies of fishes have been by stomach content analysis
these methods are not applicable to Critically Endangered species such as the smalltooth sawfish (Pristis pectinata)
Previous research using the combination of stable isotope signatures from fin clips and 18S rRNA gene sequencing of fecal samples identified the smalltooth sawfish as piscivorous at low taxonomic resolution
we present a high taxonomic resolution molecular technique for identification of prey using opportunistically acquired fecal samples
19 fish taxa from 7 orders and 11 families native to the Gulf of Mexico were successfully identified
indicating that this species is a generalist piscivore
These findings and the molecular approach used will aid recovery planning for the smalltooth sawfish and have the potential to reveal previously unknown predator-prey associations from a wide range of taxa
especially rare and hard to sample species
in 2003 the species was listed as endangered under the U.S
a higher taxonomic resolution understanding of this species’ diet is needed to implement effective recovery planning through species-specific management of its prey base
which may include popular commercial and sport fishes
we expected to find that smalltooth sawfish fed upon rays and various teleost fish species
some of which may be of anthropogenic interest
putting them in direct competition with humans
These data will improve recovery planning for this Critically Endangered species and the analysis technique has the potential to reveal previously unknown predator-prey associations of a wide range of taxa
</a>Abundance of normalized 18S rRNA gene sequence reads by Kingdom (left) and composition of Animalia (right) from smalltooth sawfish fecal samples after removal of host sequences. Animalia composed 91.3% of sequence reads (left), with fishes (Actinopterygii and Elasmobranchii) composing 86.4% of Animalia sequence reads (right). Others includes Mollusca and Platyhelminthes.
</a>Comparison of fish prey taxa detection in smalltooth sawfish fecal samples using mitochondrial 12S and 16S rRNA gene sequences
Sample locations indicated next to sample code (see footnote)
SF2 did not yield enough DNA for analysis from its extraction
</a>Normalized abundance of detected fish prey taxa in mitochondrial 12S (A) and 16S (B) rRNA gene sequence reads from smalltooth sawfish fecal samples
The same taxa were included in both graphs for comparative purposes
species were not always distinguishable in our 12S rRNA analysis with some identifications relegated to Cynoscion sp.
indicating that multiple primer sets may be desirable to overcome potential biases
Using a set of high-resolution mitochondrial genes expanded our results by accounting for differences between the two primer sets
with samples exhibiting variation in taxa detection and proportions between them
An example of the need for multiple genes occurred with silver perch and tidewater mojarra which were often detected together but exhibited drastic differences in sequence proportions between genes
the silver perch was only detected by 12S rRNA while tidewater mojarra was only detected using 16S rRNA
we thought this indicated an error in our analysis or sample preparation for Sanger sequencing
but after comparing identified query sequences of both species for both genes
all sequences identified as one or the other species via multiple sequence alignment
This process indicated that both sequences belong to these two species
were similar to other species within their respective genera
and met our threshold for valid identifications
Without the use of two overlapping high taxonomic resolution primer sets
there would have been undetected or undervalued taxa due to biases of individual primer sets and their respective genes
providing evidence that the species feeds primarily on teleost and elasmobranch fishes
we replicated and built on this technique with a larger sample size
resulting in successful identification of more prey and reaffirming the previous conclusion that this species is piscivorous
the prey identified comprised diverse taxa (19 fish taxa from 7 orders and 11 families)
Fish prey items were detected in fecal samples from all individuals with the exception of one
which we speculate was scavenged discarded bait
Our data suggest that smalltooth sawfish are generalist piscivores that feed on pelagic and benthic fishes
From 2010 to 2015, 16 fecal samples were opportunistically obtained from primarily juvenile smalltooth sawfish in southwest Florida during ongoing field sampling or from necropsies (Table <a data-track="click" data-track-label="link" data-track-action="table anchor" href="/articles/s41598-019-53931-7#Tab1">1</a>)
All samples were stored at −20 °C until further analysis
DNA extractions were performed using the Quick-DNA Fecal/Soil Microbe Kits (Zymo Research
USA) according to manufacturer instructions
DNA was unable to be extracted from one sample (SF2) due to an insufficient amount of feces and 15 fecal samples were used in further sequencing analysis
All methods were carried out in accordance with relevant guidelines and regulations
The mitochondrial 12S rRNA gene was amplified using a universal primer pair for Actinopterygii (Ac12Sf [ACT GGG ATT AGA TAC CCC ACT ATG] and Ac12Sr [GAG AGT GAC GGG CGG TGT])
The mitochondrial 16S rRNA gene was amplified using a universal primer pair for Actinopterygii (Ac16Sf [CCT TTT GCA TCA TGA TTT AGC] and Ac16Sr [CAG GTG GCT GCT TTT AGG C])
The DNA samples were amplified for sequencing in a two-step process
The forward primer was constructed (5′-3′) with the forward Illumina overhang adapter (TCG TCG GCA GCG TCA GAT GTG TAT AAG AGA CAG) added to the forward primer used
The reverse primer was constructed (5′-3′) with the reverse Illumina overhang adapter (GTC TCG TGG GCT CGG AGA TGT GTA TAA GAG ACA G) added to the reverse primer used
Amplifications were performed in a 25 µL reaction with the Qiagen HotStar Taq master mix (Qiagen
Reactions were performed on the ABI Veriti thermocycler (Applied Biosytems
USA) under the following thermal profile for 18S rRNA: an initial denaturation for 5 min at 95 °C
followed by 35 cycles of denaturation for 30 s at 94 °C
annealing for 1.5 min at 50 °C and ramp up at 0.5 °C per cycle (1.5 min) in the first 10 cycles and the following 25 cycles at 54 °C
but with a constant annealing temperature of 54 °C for all 35 cycles
The PCR product from the first stage amplification was added to a second PCR based on qualitatively determined concentrations
Primers for the second PCR were designed based on the Illumina Nextera PCR primers as follows: forward - AAT GAT ACG GCG ACC ACC GAG ATC TAC AC [i5index] TCG TCG GCA GCG TC and reverse - CAA GCA GAA GAC GGC ATA CGA GAT [i7index] GTC TCG TGG GCT CGG
The second stage amplification was run the same as the first except with only 10 cycle extensions
the first stage thermal profile used in 12S and 16S rRNA gene amplification was applied for these 10 cycles
Amplicons were visualized with eGels (Life Technologies
USA) and products were pooled equimolar and each pool was size selected in two rounds using SPRIselect reagent (Beckman Coulter
Size selected pools were then quantified using the Qubit 4 fluorometer (Life Technologies)
The final library pool was analyzed on the MiSeq system (Illumina
USA) using a Miseq reagent kit v3 (Illumina) with pair-end run setting of 2 × 300 flow cell at 10 pM
We ran 12S and 16S rRNA gene amplification on the same Miseq reagent kit
All PCR reactions were run with no-template control; the negative control was also tagged and sequenced along with samples for contamination check purposes
Illumina sequencing was performed at RTL Genomics (Lubbock
OTUs consisting of less than five sequences were considered inconsequential and omitted from further analyses (12S rRNA gene sequences omitted: 2.06 ± 0.23% [mean ± SE]; 16S rRNA: 0.65 ± 0.08%; 18S rRNA: 1.28 ± 0.06%)
with the remainder entering our identification protocol using BLAST
with any dubious identifications relegated to the lowest viable taxonomic classification (none higher than genus level and all were Menticirrhus sp.)
High-throughput mitochondrial 12S and 16S rRNA
and 18S rRNA gene sequences of smalltooth sawfish fecal samples were deposited in the National Center for Biotechnology Information sequence read archive under accession number SAMN10130720
Mitochondrial 12S and 16S rRNA gene fish sequences were deposited in GenBank under accession numbers MH715297-312 and MH715980-6002
Carlson, J., Wiley, T. &amp; Smith, K. Pristis pectinata. The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species 2013: e.T18175A141791261, <a href="https://doi.org/10.2305/IUCN.UK.2013-1.RLTS.T18175A141791261.en" data-track="click_references" data-track-action="external reference" data-track-value="external reference" data-track-label="10.2305/IUCN.UK.2013-1.RLTS.T18175A141791261.en">https://doi.org/10.2305/IUCN.UK.2013-1.RLTS.T18175A141791261.en</a> (accessed 5 August 2019) (2013)
The biology of extinct and extant sawfish (Batoidea: Sclerorhynchidae and Pristidae)
and status of the smalltooth sawfish Pristis pectinata in the USA
Evaluating the Efficiency of flushed stomach-tube lavage for collecting stomach contents from dogfish sharks
Natural born indicators: Great cormorant Phalacrocorax carbo (Aves: Phalacrocoracidae) as monitors of river discharge influence on estuarine ichthyofauna
Seasonal and spatial differences in diet in the western stock of steller sea lions (Eumetopias Jubatus)
From mass of body elements to fish biomass: A direct method to quantify food intake of fish eating birds
Assessing the diet of the black skimmer through different methodologies: is the analysis of pellets reliable
Food web interactions in the southwestern Barents Sea: Black-legged kittiwakes Rissa tridactyla respond negatively to an increase in herring Clupea harengus
Sympatric elasmobranchs and fecal samples provide insight into the trophic ecology of the smalltooth sawfish
Fishes of the Charlotte Harbor estuarine system
Molecular analysis of predation: A review of best practice for DNA-based approaches
Who is eating what: Diet assessment using next generation sequencing
Special issue on molecular detection of trophic interactions: Unpicking the tangled bank
Empirically characterising trophic networks: what emerging dna-based methods
stable isotope and fatty acid analyses can offer
Detecting prey from DNA in predator scats: A comparison with morphological analysis
using Arctocephalus seals fed a known diet
Analysis of Australian fur seal diet by pyrosequencing prey DNA in faeces
Molecular scatology as a tool to study diet: Analysis of prey DNA in scats from captive Steller sea lions
From puffins to plankton: A DNA-based analysis of a seabird food chain in the northern Gulf of Maine
Metabarcoding dietary analysis of coral dwelling predatory fish demonstrates the minor contribution of coral mutualists to their highly partitioned
Seasonal variation in fish assemblages within the estuarine portions of the Myakka and Peace Rivers
Assessing the trophic ecology of top predators across a recolonisation frontier using DNA metabarcoding of diets
Comparative diets and foraging strategies of subyearling Atlantic salmon
Variable δ15N diet-tissue discrimination factors among sharks: implications for trophic position
Fin-icky samples: An assessment of shark fin as a source material for stable isotope analysis
Stable isotopes and elasmobranchs: tissue types
Size-based analysis of diet and trophic position of the white shark Carcharodon carcharias in South African waters in global perspectives on the biology and life history of the white shark
Tissue-specific isotope trophic discrimination factors and turnover rates in a marine elasmobranch: empirical and modeling results
Abiotic affinities and spatiotemporal distribution of the endangered smalltooth sawfish
The effects of season and proximity to fringing mangroves on seagrass-associated fish communities in Charlotte Harbor
Movements of juvenile endangered smalltooth sawfish
in an estuarine river system: Use of non-main-stem river habitats and lagged responses to freshwater inflow-related changes
Diel movements of juvenile smalltooth sawfish: Implications for defining the size of a nursery hotspot
Foraging ecology of the early life stages of four sympatric shark species
Ontogenetic diet shifts and prey selection in nursery bound lemon sharks
Age and growth of endangered smalltooth sawfish (Pristis pectinata) verified with LA-ICP-MS analysis of vertebrae
Biology and ecology of sawfishes: global status of research and future outlook
Quantification of mesocosm fish and amphibian species diversity via environmental DNA metabarcoding
PEAR: a fast and accurate Illumina paired-end read merger
CD-HIT suite: A web server for clustering and comparing biological sequences
Cd-hit: A fast program for clustering and comparing large sets of protein or nucleotide sequences
MEGA7: molecular evolutionary genetics analysis version 7.0 for bigger datasets
and crabs of the Atlantic coast of the eastern United States
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Our smalltooth sawfish research is ongoing and has been supported primarily by funding from the U.S
National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s (NOAA) National Marine Fisheries Service through Section 6 (Cooperation with the States) of the U.S
Endangered Species Act under the following grant awards to the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission from NOAA: NA10NMF4720032 and NA13NMF4720047
Part of this research was also supported by the Save Our Seas Foundation
the Florida Gulf Coast University Whitaker Center for STEM Education
and recommendations are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the views or policies of the funders
This research was conducted under Endangered Species Permit numbers 1475 and 15802 issued to GRP by NOAA Fisheries
Department of Ecology and Environmental Studies
Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission
and S.G.T.) contributed to data interpretation and manuscript writing
The authors declare no competing interests
Publisher’s note Springer Nature remains neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations
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Hokkaido will host a variety of spring-like events
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Expanding the circle of exchange in Minami-ku
a community market created by students together with the local community
[Updated for 2025] A complete guide to accessing Daiwa House Premist Dome (Sapporo Dome) and nearby hotels
Enjoy seasonal spring gourmet food and Golden Week
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Valeria Garbin and Atsushi Urakawa each have obtained an NWO Vici grant of 1.5 M Euro
This is a highly competitive and prestigious grant
which will enable them to develop an innovative line of research and further expand their own research group for a period of five years
Vici is one of the largest personal scientific grants in the Netherlands and is aimed at advanced researchers
This project aims to unravel the flow physics of multicomponent
multiphase systems with complex interfaces
which are of emerging interest in areas ranging from advanced materials
These systems straddle the frontier between the field of fluid mechanics
where multicomponent systems are an emerging topic
and the field of colloid &amp; interface science
where complex interfaces formed by surfactants
proteins or colloids can completely govern the overall flow behaviour
Understanding the role of complex interfaces on multicomponent
multiphase fluid mechanics is a formidable challenge because these systems are extremely complex
and quantitative measurements are difficult
we will develop a new interdisciplinary approach pushing the boundaries of fluid mechanics
Building on the latest advances in these fields
we will develop and integrate novel experimental approaches including in-situ
real-time visualization of concentration fields and advanced microstructure imaging
we will apply this new approach to the case of Pickering emulsions for chemical conversion
These water/organic emulsions stabilized by solid particles hold exciting potential as platforms for sustainable chemical processing
promising higher conversion rates and selectivity
industry-scale application of Pickering emulsions is hampered by the current lack of understanding of the flow physics involved
Our new approach will fill this gap in our fundamental description of Pickering emulsion reactors
enabling the development of mechanistic models to predict reactor performance which underpins the future design of a full-scale Pickering emulsion reactor
Heterogeneous catalysis plays vital roles in the production of chemicals and fuels
environmental protection and as enabler of future technologies towards sustainable and circular development
Innovative catalytic technologies are widely developed; however only a minute fraction of such technologies sees the commercial light after a long R&amp;D of a few decades
With pressing environmental and energy issues we face
acceleration of these technology development and transfer steps are crucial
One major obstacle for this step is the complexity of catalytic processes occurring on different length scales varying from atomic to reactor scales
catalytic performance (activity and selectivity) is precisely understood qualitatively in terms of reaction mechanism and quantitatively in terms of intrinsic reaction kinetics
in theory we can rationally propose novel materials and optimal reaction conditions and reactor types
leading to speed-up and higher success probability of commercialisation
this project aims at methodological development towards acceleration of rational catalytic material and process design based on the information about physicochemical gradients present in catalytic reactors such as the gradients of fluid concentration
Two operando infrared (IR) spectroscopic methods will be developed; far-IR spectroscopy to study critical steps and chemical bonds during catalytic transformation
and IR emission spectroscopy to study active surface sites/species at high temperatures
by means of operando UV-Vis-NIR hyperspectral imaging
redox state of active metal and support materials and their spatiotemporal gradients will be elucidated
Combining with the gradient information gained by complementary analytical techniques (e.g
catalytic reaction mechanisms and kinetics will be investigated for CO oxidation
CO2 conversion and methane activation as important case studies
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Volume 15 - 2021 | <a class="ArticleLayoutHeader__info__doi" href="https://doi.org/10.3389/fnhum.2021.757411">https://doi.org/10.3389/fnhum.2021.757411</a>
Psychophysiological studies with electroencephalography
focusing on the dynamical aspect of neural correlate of consciousness
reported that visual awareness negativity and P3 enhancement are observed at a latency
200&#x2013;300 ms after the visual stimulus onset
when the visual stimulus is consciously perceived
access processing to visual awareness (APVA) immediately before conscious perception still remains at the earlier stage of visual sensory processing
though there is little known regarding this subject
The present study hypothesized that visual mismatch negativity (vMMN)
which reflects automatic change detection at a latency of 130&#x2013;250 ms
vMMN was reported to be evoked by the deviant stimulus that is not consciously perceived in binocular rivalry
To clarify whether the visual change detection affects APVA
we conducted a modified experiment of oddball paradigm on binocular rivalry
The results showed a significant correlation between enhancement of vMMN amplitude and facilitation of perceptual alternation when the unconscious deviant was presented
This implies that vMMN is relevant to the APVA
the attentional mechanism associated with vMMN is suggested to play an important role in unconscious neural processing at an earlier stage of visual awareness
the attentional mechanism appears to facilitate visual processing for the unconscious visual stimulus
so that the stimulus information crosses the boundary between consciousness and unconsciousness
We hypothesized that vMMN is related to the orienting of attention to the unconscious deviant
<a href="#B18">Jack et al. (2017)</a> reported that vMMN is evoked by the unconscious deviant, but they did not clarify the effect of vMMN on conscious perception. In their experimental paradigm, the deviant stimulus was a rapid decrease in the luminance of the stimulus in binocular rivalry. Since decreasing the intensity of the luminance reduces the perceptual alternation rate (<a href="#B29">Levelt, 1965</a>)
it is impossible to fairly evaluate whether vMMN affects visual perception or not
we used the orientation change of the grating stimulus as the deviant that did not reduce the stimulus luminance in order to evaluate perceptual alternation on binocular rivalry
23.2 &#x00B1; 0.76 years) participated in this study
All of them were right-handed and had normal or corrected-to-normal visual acuity
Informed consent was received from all participants
and this study was approved by the ethics committee of the Tokyo University of Science
Images were presented on a liquid crystal display (BenQ XL2540) using the MATLAB Psychophysics Toolbox (<a href="#B5">Brainard, 1997</a>; <a href="#B33">Pelli, 1997</a>). Participants were presented with two computer-generated images through a mirror stereoscope. The image included gratings that were annulus-shaped with a spatial frequency of 1.3 cycles/degree (<a href="#F1">Figure 1A</a>)
The outer radius of the gratings was 4.3&#x00B0;
The blue or red grating was presented on a black background with a mean luminance of 0.05 cd/m2
The mean luminance of the grating&#x2019;s red portion was 3.56 cd/m2
while that of the blue portion was 2.16 cd/m2
Each grating was surrounded by three white rings
Every white ring had a line width of 0.19&#x00B0;
The outer radius of the largest ring was 8.64&#x00B0;
and the outer edges of each of the other two smaller rings were inwardly depicted by 0.64&#x00B0; from the outer edge of a neighboring larger ring
The white rings for both eyes were continuously presented throughout the period of stimulation
Time course of stimulus presentation in one trial and experimental conditions
(A) Each trial consisted of two stimulation phases
an identical grating stimulus with a color (blue or red) was simultaneously and intermittently presented for both the left eye and the right eye
Participants were asked to passively look at the fixation point
a color of the grating stimulus changed for either of two eyes to induce the binocular rivalry (a color change from blue to red or vice versa)
and the grating images were presented intermittently as in the first phase
the fixation cross was continuously presented at the central area of the gratings
and participants were required to continuously report the perceived grating
the target stimulus immediately appeared for 500 ms and its fixation cross then changed in color to a green cross (the cue)
Participants were asked to report the current perceived grating stimulus after the onset of the cue
(B) Each pear of two grating stimuli arranged vertically indicates an example of target stimulus
Target stimulus had three variants by changing or not changing an orientation of the grating stimulus under the binocular rivalry
an orientation of the grating stimulus which did not reach a conscious percept was exclusively changed by 90&#x00B0;
orientation of the grating stimulus which reached a conscious percept was exclusively changed by 90&#x00B0;
there was no change of the grating stimulus for both eyes
the target stimulus yielded three conditions dependent on the subject&#x2019;s conscious/unconscious percept just before itself: the Standard (STD) condition
the Unconscious-deviant (Uncon-DEV) condition
and the Conscious-deviant (Con-DEV) condition
except for their durations (no change in orientation)
which appeared &#x201C;unconsciously,&#x201D; was changed by 90&#x00B0;
which was perceived &#x201C;consciously,&#x201D; was changed by 90&#x00B0;
Which of the stimulus presented to both eyes changed in each trial had been determined
based on the perceptual report immediately prior to the target stimulus
the white fixation cross of the target stimulus was replaced with a green one for both eyes
participants were asked to stop pressing the left arrow key or the right arrow key immediately
they were required to promptly report their currently perceived grating image again by pressing either the left arrow key or the right arrow key
the rings and the green fixation point were exclusively presented
There were 8 sessions in the present study
Participants were given a rest between sessions
The current procedure was thus expected to extract behavioral data regarding whether participants kept their percepts for a certain period of time just before the onset of the target stimulus
We further narrowed the trials down to only those in which a participant stopped pressing a response key and pressed again following the onset of the cue image
the trials in which participants responded within 300 ms after the cue onset were excluded to ensure that included participants had checked the cue
we obtained valid trials and counted the number of times when the perceived color changed from before to after the onset of the target stimulus; we then calculated the proportion of perceptual alternation for every condition
The calculated proportions of perceptual alternation were submitted to a repeated-measures one-way analysis of variance (ANOVA) with a factor of the conditions (the STD condition
Post hoc tests were performed with Bonferroni correction
we further evaluated whether the effects of the target stimulus on the proportion of the perceptual alternation would depend on a perceived grating prior to the presentation of the target stimulus
the proportion of perceptual alternation was calculated for each direction of perceptual change (i.e.
perceptual changes from the blue grating to the red grating or vice versa)
The proportion obtained were then submitted to a repeated-measures two-way ANOVA with factors of the directions of perceptual change and the condition
the significance level was set at p &#x003C; 0.05
Electroencephalography (EEG) in each condition was recorded by the measurement instrument with 57 electrodes (EEG-1200
The layout of electrodes was based on a modified version of the international 10-20 system
Impedance at each electrode was kept at less than 10 k&#x03A9;
EEG signals were digitized at 1 kHz and recorded with a 0.5&#x2013;300 Hz band-pass filter online
EEG signals were referenced to the right earlobe
and eye movement was monitored using horizontal and vertical bipolar electrooculograms (EOGs)
vMMNs prominently appeared at Oz across participants for both the Uncon-vMMN and the Con-vMMN
The present study thus focused on vMMN at Oz
By using differential VEPs (Uncon-DEV/Con-DEV &#x2013; STD) at Oz
we visually identified their negative peaks at the latencies 100 ms later than the target stimulus&#x2019;s onset
vMMN&#x2019;s latencies/amplitudes were then obtained; the first negative peak was identified as vMMN1&#x2019;s peak and the second negative peak was identified as vMMN2&#x2019;s peak
The difference in vMMN&#x2019;s peak latency/amplitude between the Uncon-vMMN and the Con-vMMN was evaluated using paired t-tests
The Spearman&#x2019;s rank order correlation coefficient was calculated
vMMN data that were not clearly identified upon visual inspection were excluded
and the significance level was set at p &#x003C; 0.05
the deviant administrated on &#x201C;a consciously presented image&#x201D; operated on a percept of the image such that the image was consciously perceived from before to after the presentation of the deviant (i.e.
the suppression of perceptual alternation)
we evaluated whether the proportion of perceptual change would be affected by a perceived grating prior to the presentation of the target stimulus
the mean proportion of a perceptual change from the blue grating to the red grating across participants was 0.210 &#x00B1; 0.027 (SE)
while that from the red grating to the blue grating was 0.143 &#x00B1; 0.021 (SE)
the mean proportion of the perceptual change from the blue grating to the red grating was 0.446 &#x00B1; 0.029 (SE)
while that from the red grating to the blue grating was 0.498 &#x00B1; 0.031 (SE)
the mean proportion of the perceptual change from the blue grating to the red grating was 0.014 &#x00B1; 0.004 (SE)
while that from the red grating to the blue grating was 0.024 &#x00B1; 0.007 (SE)
A repeated-measures two-way ANOVA revealed that the proportion was not significantly affected by the direction of perceptual change [F(1,18) = 0.005
There was no significant interaction between the conditions and the direction of perceptual change [F(2,36) = 2.336
These findings indicate that the proportion of perceptual alternation was insusceptible to changes in consciously-perceived color from before to after the onset of the target stimulus
Proportion of perceptual alternation for each condition
The proportion of perceptual alternation for all participants are shown for each condition
The mean proportion is indicated by black-filled square with &#x00B1;SE
The proportion was significantly higher in the Uncon-DEV condition than that in the STD condition
the proportion was significantly lower in the Con-DEV condition than that in the STD condition
<a href="#F3">Figure 3</a> shows the grand-averaged VEP waveform at Oz and isocontour maps at latencies of 100 and 280 ms for each condition
The VEP amplitude appeared to be more negatively shifted for the Uncon-DEV condition or the Con-DEV condition than for the STD condition at Oz
Two-tailed t-tests through successive time points (see section &#x201C;Materials and Methods&#x201D; for details) revealed that the negative shift of VEP for the Uncon-DEV condition over the STD condition was significant at a latency of 115&#x2013;334 ms
The enhancement of VEP for the Con-DEV over the STD condition was also significant at a latency of 114&#x2013;362 ms
Grand-averaged VEPs to the target image for each condition
VEPs at Oz and their isocontour maps at latencies of 100 and 280 ms were illustrated for each condition
VEPs in both the Con-DEV condition and the Uncon-DEV condition were more negatively enhanced than VEP in the STD condition at a latency range of approximately 100&#x2013;400 ms
<a href="#F4">Figure 4</a> shows the grand-averaged vMMNs (Con-vMMN and Uncon-vMMN) at Oz with their isocontour maps at latencies of 130 and 230 ms. In line with our previous studies (<a href="#B42">Urakawa et al., 2017a</a>, <a href="#B45">2018</a>), the negative shift appeared at Oz particularly at a latency range of approximately 100&#x2013;400 ms. As in previous studies (e.g., <a href="#B31">Maekawa et al., 2005</a>)
two successive peaks for posterior negativities (hereafter
we refer to the first negativity as vMMN1 and the second negativity as vMMN2) were observed at a latency of approximately 100&#x2013;250 ms for both the Uncon-vMMN and the Con-vMMN
These findings support the fact that our current stimulation paradigm was effective in evoking vMMN
vMMN at Oz and topographical maps at latencies of 130 and 230 ms were shown for each condition
see &#x201C;Electroencephalography Data&#x201D; section) emerged
vMMNs evoked in both the Uncon-DEV condition and the Con-DEV condition prominently appeared at Oz
we evaluated the difference in the vMMN peak latency/amplitude between the Uncon-vMMN and the Con-vMMN
The vMMN2 data for three participants were excluded from analysis due to lack of prominent vMMN2 emergence
the mean of peak latency was 145 &#x00B1; 7.3 (SE) ms in the Uncon-vMMN and 147 &#x00B1; 7.5 (SE) ms in the Con-vMMN
The mean of peak amplitude was &#x2212;2.636 &#x00B1; 0.356 (SE) &#x03BC;V in the Uncon-vMMN and &#x2212;2.621 &#x00B1; 0.315 (SE) &#x03BC;V in the Con-vMMN
Paired t-tests indicated that there was no significant difference in both peak latency and peak amplitude between the Uncon-vMMN and the Con-vMMN [for peak latency
Cohen&#x2019;s d = 0.05; for peak amplitude
the mean of peak latency was 237 &#x00B1; 5.1 (SE) ms in the Uncon-vMMN and 245 &#x00B1; 6.6 ms (SE) in the Con-vMMN
Paired t-tests indicated that the Uncon-vMMN was significantly elongated in latency over the Con-vMMN [t(15) = 2.228
The mean of peak amplitude was &#x2212;2.777 &#x00B1; 0.412 (SE) &#x03BC;V in the Uncon-vMMN and &#x2212;2.664 &#x00B1; 0.340 (SE) &#x03BC;V in the Con-vMMN
There was no significant difference in amplitude between the Uncon-vMMN and the Con-vMMN [t(15) = 0.523
The number of participants for evaluating the individual differences in the present study was also comparable to the previous studies (10&#x2013;20 participants)
Relationship between proportion of perceptual alternation and vMMNs across participants
The correlations between the differential proportion of perceptual alternation (Uncon-DEV condition &#x2013; STD condition; Con-DEV condition &#x2013; STD condition) and vMMN (Uncon-vMMN; Con-vMMN) are shown for vMMN1 (A) and vMMN2 (B)
There was a significant correlation between differential proportion (Uncon-DEV condition &#x2013; STD condition) and an enhancement of the Uncon-vMMN
indicating that the Uncon-vMMN is relevant to making an unconsciously presented image consciously perceived
The VMMN was evoked by conscious and unconscious deviant stimuli
Our behavioral results showed that the conscious deviant stimulus suppressed perceptual alternation
while the unconscious deviant stimulus facilitated perceptual alternation
These EEG and behavioral results suggest that vMMN may be involved in making the deviant stimulus more perceptible
independent of whether the deviant was presented consciously or unconsciously
there was a significant correlation between the behavioral index and vMMN in the unconscious condition
although there was no significant difference in the conscious condition
These results indicate that the neural processing underlying vMMN is closely involved in the visual perceptual processing of the unconscious stimulus rather than the conscious stimulus
The present study confirmed the hypothesis that vMMN reflecting the automatic visual change detection is relevant to APVA
The deviant stimulus of orientation change enabled us to discover the relationship between the perceptual alternation and vMMN
we found a significant correlation between the enhancement of Uncon-vMMN&#x2019;s amplitude and the facilitation of perceptual alternation when the unconscious deviant was presented
no significant correlation was observed when the conscious deviant was presented
These results indicated that the unconscious visual processing underlying vMMN is involved in APVA
these results support our hypothesis that vMMN evoked by the unconscious deviant and its associated attentional mechanism make it easier for the unconscious stimulus to be consciously perceived
our current finding (the significant correlation between vMMN&#x2019;s amplitude and the facilitation of perceptual alternation) may indicate that an increase of the prediction error invoked under the unconscious condition is relevant to the facilitation of APVA
The present study additionally suggests that the automatic visual change detection underlying vMMN is also related to APVA
while our results show a positive correlation between Uncon-vMMN&#x2019;s amplitude and the proportion of perceptual alternation
if we assume that the enhancement of Uncon-vMMN is mainly due to the effect of RN
the positive correlation reported in the present study is contradictory to the previous report
the relevance of vMMN to APVA is suggested
despite the possibility of RN contamination
Concerning vMMN2, the peak latency of Uncon-vMMN2 was significantly longer than that of Con-vMMN2 (see section &#x201C;Electroencephalography Data&#x201D; in Results). In vMMN latency, we should take VAN into account. This is because VAN is observed at a peak latency of approximately 200 ms after the stimulus onset when the visual stimulus is consciously perceived (<a href="#B25">Koivisto and Revonsuo, 2003</a>; <a href="#B22">Koivisto and Grassini, 2016</a>)
the proportion of perceptual alternation in the Uncon-DEV condition was very high
and the unconscious visual stimulus was almost consciously perceived
which is related to the conscious perception of the visual stimulus
emerged in the Uncon-vMMN2 and affected peak latency
In the global neuronal workspace (GNW) framework, conscious perception correlates with the global neuronal workspace, which links features represented in different brain areas and binds them into coherent representations, and later brain activities (P3 or late-positive component) reflect conscious perception (<a href="#B37">Roelfsema et al., 2000</a>; <a href="#B39">Sergent et al., 2005</a>; <a href="#B11">Dehaene and Changeux, 2011</a>; <a href="#B32">Mashour et al., 2020</a>)
our study focused on pre-conscious visual processing for less than 200 ms evoked by a mismatch stimulus
attention plays an important role in selecting a piece of information by amplifying its activity and reducing that of other competing stimuli
with this attentional selection leading to conscious perception
the present study suggested that the attention induced by the unconscious stimulus contributes to the selection of conscious perception
it is impossible to discuss further the detail of attention because we did not control the top-down attention accompanied with vMMN in the experiment
This must be investigated in the future studies
Although the present study argued that the visual processing underlying vMMN is relevant to APVA
there remains a possibility that vMMN at least partly reflected neural activity concomitant with APVA
This is because the correlation in the present study did not necessarily imply causality
the vMMN recorded in the present study might have been confounded by neural activity irrelevant to APVA
the main finding that vMMN is involved in APVA is unaffected by possible contamination because their effects are limited
vMMN preceding VAN was shown to be relevant to APVA for the first time
the results showed a correlation between the enhancement of vMMN amplitude and the facilitation of perceptual alternation in binocular rivalry when an unconscious deviant was presented
which reflects an automatic visual change detection
the attentional mechanism associated with vMMN is suggested to play an important role in APVA
The discovered relevance of vMMN on APVA is a significant first step in elucidating early unconscious processing before established conscious perception
The original contributions presented in the study are included in the article/supplementary material
further inquiries can be directed to the corresponding author
The studies involving human participants were reviewed and approved by the Ethics Committee of the Tokyo University of Science
Written informed consent was obtained from the individual(s) for the publication of any potentially identifiable images or data included in this article
TU and OA edited and revised the manuscript
The authors declare that the research was conducted in the absence of any commercial or financial relationships that could be construed as a potential conflict of interest
We would like to thank Editage (<a href="http://www.editage.com">www.editage.com</a>) for English language editing
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Copyright &#x00A9; 2021 Kurita, Urakawa and Araki. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the <a rel="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/" target="_blank">Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY)</a>
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Forced expression of Klotho enabled the high-affinity binding of FGF23 to the cell surface and restored the ability of a renal cell line to respond to FGF23 treatment
FGF23 incompetence was induced by injecting wild-type mice with an anti-Klotho monoclonal antibody
Klotho is essential for endogenous FGF23 function
Because Klotho alone seemed to be incapable of intracellular signalling
we searched for other components of the FGF23 receptor and found FGFR1(IIIc)
which was directly converted by Klotho into the FGF23 receptor
the concerted action of Klotho and FGFR1(IIIc) reconstitutes the FGF23 receptor
These findings provide insights into the diversity and specificity of interactions between FGF and FGF receptors
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Autosomal dominant hypophosphataemic rickets is associated with mutations in FGF23
Cloning and characterization of FGF23 as a causative factor of tumor-induced osteomalacia
Evolution of the Fgf and Fgfr gene families
Increased circulatory level of biologically active full-length FGF-23 in patients with hypophosphatemic rickets/osteomalacia
Fibroblast growth factor 23 in oncogenic osteomalacia and X-linked hypophosphatemia
FGF-23 is a potent regulator of vitamin D metabolism and phosphate homeostasis
Mutation of the mouse klotho gene leads to a syndrome resembling ageing
FGF-23 in fibrous dysplasia of bone and its relationship to renal phosphate wasting
Proximal tubular phosphate reabsorption: molecular mechanisms
Cytochrome P450 enzymes in the bioactivation of vitamin D to its hormonal form
Early growth response protein 1 (Egr-1): prototype of a zinc-finger family of transcription factors
Egr-1 gene is induced by the systemic administration of the vascular endothelial growth factor and the epidermal growth factor
Secreted Klotho protein in sera and CSF: implication for post-translational cleavage in release of Klotho protein from cell membrane
Analysis of the biochemical mechanisms for the endocrine actions of fibroblast growth factor-23
Fibroblast growth factor (FGF)-23 inhibits renal phosphate reabsorption by activation of the mitogen-activated protein kinase pathway
A gene activated in mouse 3T3 cells by serum growth factors encodes a protein with ‘zinc finger’ sequences
Targeted ablation of Fgf23 demonstrates an essential physiological role of FGF23 in phosphate and vitamin D metabolism
Homozygous ablation of fibroblast growth factor-23 results in hyperphosphatemia and impaired skeletogenesis
and reverses hypophosphatemia in Phex-deficient mice
Mediation of unusually high concentrations of 1,25-dihydroxyvitamin D in homozygous klotho mutant mice by increased expression of renal 1α-hydroxylase gene
a gene related to a syndrome resembling human premature aging
functions in a negative regulatory circuit of vitamin D endocrine system
Circulating concentration of FGF-23 increases as renal function declines in patients with chronic kidney disease
but does not change in response to variation in phosphate intake in healthy volunteers
Signal transduction by fibroblast growth factor receptor-4 (FGFR-4)
Molecular cloning and expression analyses of mouse betaklotho
which encodes a novel Klotho family protein
Identification of a novel mouse membrane-bound family 1 glycosidase-like protein
which carries an atypical active site structure
Definition of a novel growth factor-dependent signal cascade for the suppression of bile acid biosynthesis
Impaired negative feedback suppression of bile acid synthesis in mice lacking betaKlotho
Mutant FGF-23 responsible for autosomal dominant hypophosphatemic rickets is resistant to proteolytic cleavage and causes hypophosphatemia in vivo.
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Kasai and other members of our laboratories for advice and discussion
This work was supported in part by grants from the Ministry of Education
Reprints and permissions information is available at <a href="http://www.nature.com/reprints">www.nature.com/reprints</a>
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Schematic illustration of the proposed FGF23-specific receptor that is composed of Klotho and FGFR1(IIIc)
The specific binding of FGF23 generated by Klotho
Egr-1 protein was induced by FGF23 in Klotho-expressing Peak rapid cells
Klotho-dependent Egr-1 reporter activation by diluted serum samples from Klotho deficient mice
The FGFR1(IIIc)-Fc fusion protein specifically decreases FGF23 induced luciferase activity of the Egr-1 reporter
This file contains an additional discussion of the findings of this paper
This file contains Supplementary Tables 1–4
This file contains additional details on the methods used in this study
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Journal of Orthopaedic Surgery and Research (2023)
The klotho gene was first identified as a mutation in a mouse strain that exhibits a syndrome resembling human ageing
and overexpression of klotho extends the lifespan of mice
A possible mechanism of action for the Klotho protein has now been found: it converts FGFR1(IIIc)
a receptor for various fibroblast growth factors acting at a local level
a bone-derived hormone that regulates kidney function
The Dutch Research Council (NWO) has awarded Delft researchers Valeria Garbin
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Assistive exoskeleton robots are being widely applied in neurorehabilitation to improve upper-limb motor and somatosensory functions
the central nervous system appears to highly attend to external information-processing (IP) to efficiently interact with robotic assistance
the neural mechanisms underlying this process remain unclear
The rostromedial prefrontal cortex (rmPFC) may be the core of the executive resource allocation that generates biases in the allocation of processing resources toward an external IP according to current behavioral demands
we used functional near-infrared spectroscopy to investigate the cortical activation associated with executive resource allocation during a robot-assisted motor task
participants performed a right-arm motor task using elbow flexion-extension movements in three different loading conditions: robotic assistive loading (ROB)
Participants were asked to strive for kinematic consistency in their movements
A one-way repeated measures analysis of variance and general linear model-based methods were employed to examine task-related activity
We demonstrated that hemodynamic responses in the ventral and dorsal rmPFC were higher during ROB than during NON
greater hemodynamic responses in the ventral rmPFC were observed during ROB than during RES
Increased activation in ventral and dorsal rmPFC subregions may be involved in the executive resource allocation that prioritizes external IP during human-robot interactions
these findings provide novel insights regarding the involvement of executive control during a robot-assisted motor task
and convert them into output motor commands (e.g.
Determining the effects of robot-assisted rehabilitation requires a deeper understanding of the mechanisms underlying human-robot interactions
the underlying high-level control mechanisms that govern the allocation of processing resources during a motor task with an assistive exoskeleton robot have not been elucidated
may be involved in human-robot interactions
Despite the findings of the previous studies
the role of the rmPFC in top-down executive control over human-robot interactions remains unclear
fNIRS is an optimal neuroimaging approach for investigating the cortical activity of the cerebrum during human-robot interactions
Elbow flexion-extension movements that require kinematic consistency were adopted as the primary task
healthy participants prepared for and performed the motor task in three loading conditions requiring different degrees of external IP in ascending order: non-loading (NON)
and robotic assistive loading (ROB) condition
Investigating brain activation during robot-assisted motor tasks in healthy participants will aid in understanding how this task activates the brain differently across clinical groups
The outcomes of this study would serve as a baseline for future research to further investigate the neural mechanisms of human-robot interactions in healthy and disease-affected populations
We hypothesized that by providing robotic assistance to voluntary elbow movements
the executive process would be involved in generating bias for the allocation of processing resources toward external IP during the motor task
resulting in greater activation of rmPFC subregions during ROB compared to other loading conditions
this is the first study using fNIRS to assess the cortical manifestation of the executive resource allocation during a robot-assisted motor task
26 healthy participants (13 females and 13 males
age range: 22.12 &#x000B1; 1.34 years) were enrolled in this study
Participants were right-hand dominant as assessed using the Edinburg Handedness Questionnaire (88.74 &#x000B1; 15.63)
None of the participants reported a medical history of neurological or psychiatric disorders
or any orthopedic injuries that impaired upper limb sensorimotor function
Participants were instructed to avoid consuming any caffeine or alcohol-containing substances for at least 12 h prior to experiments
Participants were informed about the study&#x00027;s purpose and provided written informed consent before participation
All procedures were in compliance with the Declaration of Helsinki and the United States Code of Federal Regulations for the protection of human participants
The present study was approved by the Human Ethics Committee of Hiroshima University (No
The setting parameters for HAL-SJ were standardized across participants
with an assistive gain of 45% and an assistive balance of zero between flexor and extensor motions
(A) The HAL-SJ and the resistance exoskeleton device are mounted on the lateral and medial sides of the right arm
(B) Experimental setup from a sagittal view
participants were required to perform cyclic elbow flexion-extension movements with the ROM from 40 to 120&#x000B0; (dash line)
(C) The simplified schematic of the experimental trial protocol
including a 10-s preparation phase and a 20-s execution phase
The post-task period was pseudo-randomized between 20
single-joint version of the Hybrid Assistive Limb; ROM
A self-built resistance exoskeleton device was designed to apply constant resistive force on voluntary elbow movements of the right elbow. The resistance exoskeleton device was set on the medial side of the right arm and consisted of a 1&#x000B0;-of-freedom elbow joint with two bars attached to the arm and forearm (<a href="#F1">Figure 1A</a>)
the resistance degree imposed by the device was controlled at &#x0007E;95 Nm/rad for all participants
which applied assistive and resistive forces on joint motions
The HAL-SJ was set to the Cybernic Voluntary Control mode which allows it to provide real-time external assistance to elbow movements by detecting human motion intention via bioelectrical signals from muscle activation
the physical interaction between voluntary movement and intention-based robotic assistance may induce new and complex sensory feedback
requiring the highest degree of external IP among the three conditions
Movement frequency was limited to 0.5&#x02013;1 Hz
Participants were encouraged to strive for kinematic consistency in their ROM of flexion-extension movements
which cued participants to return their arms to the starting posture and rest until the next trial
A complete experimental session lasted &#x0007E;4 min
with a 5-min inter-session interval for setting up the new condition
The total experimental duration was 25 min per participant
After completing the experimental conditions
participants were required to complete a VAS that examined subjective measures of effort on the task performance (from &#x0201C;very low degree&#x0201D; to &#x0201C;very high degree&#x0201D;) for each condition
participants were familiarized with the task by undergoing several practice trials for each condition
To measure the absolute angle information of the forearm
The device featured 16-bit data outputs in the range of &#x000B1;2 G for each of the three acceleration axes and &#x000B1;2,000 degrees per second (dps) for each of the three gyroscopic axes
A microcontroller (ARM mbed LPC1768; NXP Semiconductors
Netherlands) input the acquired data to a Madgwick filter
calculated the attitude estimation of the absolute angle of the forearm with a sampling frequency of 20 Hz
and sent the absolute angle information to a PC
The ROM for each cyclic elbow movement was determined by subtracting the minimal angle from the maximum angle
The standard deviation (SD) of the ROM for each trial was generated across all movements
kinematic variability in each condition was quantified by calculating the average SD values across trials
Behavioral performance was recorded using a video recording device (iPhone; Apple Inc.
To additionally assess the quality of interaction between voluntary movements of participants and external assistance of the HAL-SJ
the number of jerks during ROB performance was measured for each trial using visual inspection
the mean number of jerks across four trials was calculated for each participant
To confirm the participant&#x00027;s compliance with task instructions during the experiment
their behaviors were evaluated visually and electromyographically
To monitor the muscular activity of arm muscles
bipolar surface electrodes with an inter-electrode distance of 10 mm were placed over the muscle belly of the right bicep and tricep muscles
A reference electrode was attached to the left wrist
EMG signals were acquired with a band-pass filter from 10 to 500 Hz at a sampling rate of 1 kHz using an EMG system (EMG Master; Mediarea Support Business Union
The processed EMG tracings were visually inspected to detect muscle contractions
One individual participant data with more than two trials containing incorrect behaviors such as poor performance
or noticeable muscle activity during non-execution periods in any condition were excluded from subsequent data processing and statistical analyses
there was a total of the remaining 18 participants analyzed (10 females and 8 males
the analysis and discussion in this study focused primarily on changes in oxy-Hb concentration
To investigate neural signals in subregions of the rmPFC
channels within BA 10 were classified into two subdivisions along the ventral-dorsal axis: the ventral rmPFC
located in the ventral-middle part of BA 10 adjacent to BA 11 (orbital prefrontal cortex); and the dorsal rmPFC
positioned in the dorsal-middle part of BA 10 adjacent to BA 9 (dorsolateral prefrontal cortex)
Red and blue-filled circles represent light sources and detectors
Yellow and gray rectangles represent long separation channels with and without short separation channels
The midline central point (Cz) is located underneath the 12th channel
(B) The cortical mapping shows estimated spatial information of the measurement on the surface of the cerebral cortex using the current fNIRS optode configuration
(C) Grand-average oxy-Hb responses in the ventral rmPFC during ROB (red line)
The time series were corrected to the baseline defined as the mean value over 2 s before the onset
functional near-infrared spectroscopy; oxy-Hb
Data are expressed as the mean with standard error (SE)
Anatomically labeled fNIRS channel locations using Brodmann areas
To deal with motion artifacts possibly induced by body movements, fNIRS signals were processed using a method based on moving SD and spline interpolation (<a href="#B62">Scholkmann et al., 2010</a>)
This approach computed the SD of each data segment and identified motion artifacts based on the SD threshold
The data segments containing the motion artifact would then be spline interpolated
A band-pass filter with a 0.01&#x02013;0.1 Hz cutoff frequency range was then applied to remove concomitant systemic responses from the signal
we employed a technique called direct subtraction to remove these extracerebral hemodynamic components from the neural data
Each long channel was linked with the short channel that is closest to it
The corrected hemodynamic response was obtained by subtracting the corresponding short channel signal from the long channel signal
The preceding data analyses were carried out with the use of commercial fNIRS analysis software (Advanced ROI; WAWON DIGITECH
The oxy-Hb time-series in each channel were corrected to baseline values
determined as the mean over 2 s prior to the onset of the task period
the oxy-Hb time-series were averaged across trials and ROI-wise channels to generate ROI time-series for each condition
mean oxy-Hb changes were used as an index of cortical activation and were calculated separately for each task phase
namely the preparation phase (0 to 10 s) and execution phase (15 to 35 s)
The time window for the execution phase was defined based on the temporal characteristics of blood oxygenation hemodynamic responses
Based on previous evidence (<a href="#B63">Schroeter et al., 2003</a>)
we employed effect size as an index of brain activation due to its robustness to differential path-length factors
the effect size in each execution period was calculated as the difference between the mean oxy-Hb changes in the execution window (15&#x02013;35 s) and baseline window (&#x02212;5&#x02013;5 s)
the effect sizes were averaged across trials and ROI-wise channels to generate the average effect sizes for each condition
Alignment of analysis results based on mean oxy-Hb changes
average effect sizes of hemodynamic responses
and group-level t-statistic maps would help better confirm task-related cortical activity
The size of the extracted features for hemodynamic responses are as follows: four consecutive trials in each three (ROB
One-way repeated-measures analysis of variance (ANOVA) tests were used to examine the effect of conditionon indices of cortical activation (mean oxy-Hb changes and average effect sizes of hemodynamic response) for each ROI
To examine the brain-behavior relationship
we conducted Pearson&#x00027;s correlation analysis between differences in execution-related mean oxy-Hb changes in rmPFC subregions and average SD values
Bonferroni post-hoc tests were applied for multiple comparisons (&#x003B1; = 0.0167)
SPSS statistical package version 19.0 (IBM
P &#x02264; 0.05 were considered statistically significant
One-way repeated measures ANOVA revealed significant differences in average SD values among conditions [F(2,34) = 3.364, p = 0.046, <a href="#F3">Figure 3</a>]
Post-hoc testing using Bonferroni correction revealed that kinematic variability was significantly higher during ROB than during RES (p = 0.033)
Average changes in kinematic variability for three conditions
Comparisons of average changes in kinematic variability for ROB
Illustrations of grand-average ROI time-series of mean oxy-Hb changes in the ventral rmPFC during ROB, RES, and NON are presented in <a href="#F2">Figure 2C</a>
One-way repeated measures ANOVA revealed significant differences in preparation-related mean oxy-Hb changes among conditions in the left dlPFC [F(2,34) = 4.28, p = 0.022] (<a href="#F4">Figure 4A</a>)
Bonferroni post-hoc testing revealed that oxy-Hb responses in the left dlPFC were significantly higher during ROB and RES than during NON (p = 0.039 and p = 0.012
Average changes in oxy-Hb concentration of ROIs for three conditions
and (B) execution-related oxy-Hb changes of ROIs for ROB
&#x0002A;&#x0002A;&#x0002A;p &#x0003C; 0.001
One-way repeated measures ANOVA also revealed significant differences in mean oxy-Hb changes among conditions in the three ROIs (<a href="#F4">Figure 4B</a>): ventral rmPFC [F(2,34) = 22.10
Oxy-Hb responses in the ventral rmPFC region were stronger during ROB than during RES (p = 0.002) and NON (p &#x0003C; 0.001)
Cortical activation in the ventral rmPFC was significantly greater during RES than during NON (p = 0.020)
whereas activity in the dorsal rmPFC was significantly greater during ROB than during NON (p = 0.001)
Oxy-Hb responses in the right PM were significantly higher during RES than during NON (p = 0.005)
Group-level t-statistic maps are presented in <a href="#F5">Figure 5</a>. Group analysis of the comparison between ROB and NON revealed significant activity in both the ventral and dorsal parts of the rmPFC (<a href="#F5">Figure 5A</a>). For the comparison between ROB and RES, increased cortical activation was specifically identified in the ventral rmPFC (<a href="#F5">Figure 5B</a>)
Higher t-values represent relatively higher levels of cortical activation
Correlation analyses of the relationship between differences in fNIRS data and task performance revealed that execution-related mean oxy-Hb changes in the dorsal and ventral rmPFC during ROB were positively correlated with average SD values (dorsal rmPFC: r = 0.473
neither of them survived after Bonferroni correction
no significant association was observed between differences in cortical activity and behavioral measures
including VAS scores and the number of jerks in ROB
The present study aimed to investigate the effects of a robot-assisted motor task on the cortical activity involved in the executive resource allocation using fNIRS in healthy participants
We hypothesized that human-robot interactions in ROB would activate rmPFC subregions to bias the allocation of processing resources toward external IP
Statistical analyses of hemodynamic changes and effect sizes of hemodynamic responses revealed greater activation in both the ventral and dorsal rmPFC during ROB than during NON
activity in the ventral rmPFC was greater during ROB than during RES
These findings aligned with the results of group-level NIRS-SPM t-statistic maps
as the rmPFC activity associated with executive resource allocation during a robot-assisted motor task has not been previously investigated
The results showed that signals in the rmPFC area may be used to accurately decode external or stimulus-oriented mental states
hence corroborating the view of the rmPFC&#x00027;s role in prioritizing external IP
suggest that during human-robot interaction
the rmPFC activity is involved in top-down executive control that biases the allocation of processing resources toward external IP
progressively anterior subdivisions of the PFC operate as higher-order structures in the hierarchy
representing progressive information-processing aspects of cognition and deploying top-down control over more posteriorly located regions
it is plausible to suggest that during a motor task with an assistive exoskeleton robot
especially its ventral subregion as a core part
is crucial to the executive process that prioritizes the processing of somatosensory feedback induced by physical human-robot interactions
The above findings indicate the functional dissociation of the rmPFC-centered executive process that drives the allocation of processing resources with the endogenous goal-directed preparation located on other prefrontal cortices
our results further support the executive involvement of the rmPFC activity in prioritizing external IP during human-robot interactions
suggests that top-down executive control involvement
is crucial to human-robot interactions during robot-assisted motor tasks
this study is the first one that investigates the role of rmPFC subregions in executive resource allocation during a robot-assisted motor task
Our findings contribute to a better understanding of an aspect of top-down executive control that determines and prioritizes the mode of information processing best suited to the current behavior
This executive process appears to be vital for adapting human-robot interactions
demanding further research into the role of the rmPFC in different robot-assisted modalities (e.g.
As the use of assistive exoskeleton robots in life and rehabilitation grows more popular
gaining a deeper grasp of the neural mechanisms underlying human-robot interactions may have the potential to improve robotic technology for rehabilitation and ergonomics
as well as the analysis method and statistical methodology outlined here
provide a helpful baseline that future researchers can use to further examine human-robot interactions in healthy and clinical populations in more depth
Our findings imply that such a cognitive state
which appears to be crucial for human-robot interactions
This demonstrates the potential for rmPFC activity to aid in the functional outcome assessment of pre- and post-interventions with robot-assisted training
Future studies with longer task duration and follow-up assessment will help in further delineation of the role of the rmPFC in the performance of robot-assisted tasks
The present study also contributes to further promoting the use of rmPFC signals in BCI applications. It has been demonstrated that the PFC regions contain sufficient information to accurately detect brain processes, including sensorimotor processes, cognitive functions, and mental states (<a href="#B46">Min et al., 2017</a>; <a href="#B26">Khan et al., 2021</a>; <a href="#B39">Liu et al., 2021</a>)
Our study has untangled one of the rmPFC&#x00027;s roles
which is related to stimulus-directed cognitive states
This feature of rmPFC activity may be important for effective human-machine communication where feedback from the computer to the user is also a key aspect
attempts are encouraged to determine ways to combine inputs from the rmPFC and other regions to improve the interface between humans and machines
The present study also highlights the capability of fNIRS to detect brain changes while participants performed robot-assisted motor tasks
This motivates the application of fNIRS in future studies on human-robot interactions and motion-related tasks in naturalistic settings
Future studies on the connectivity patterns of brain networks during robot-assisted tasks are required to expand on the current findings
the setting parameters for HAL-SJ were standardized across all participants without taking individual kinematic characteristics into account
Future studies should consider personalized tuning for robotic assistance
which may help further investigate the relationship between brain activity and motor behavior
this fNIRS study assessed the cortical mechanisms of executive resource allocation during a robot-assisted motor task
robot-assisted task performance can increase brain activity in rmPFC subregions
This rmPFC activation may be associated with the top-down executive control that supports human-robot interactions by prioritizing the processing of external information
Our study contributes to the previously unexplored understanding of how top-down executive control operates and supports human-robot interactions
As the usage of assistive exoskeleton robots becomes more common in life and rehabilitation
this study may serve as a useful baseline for future researchers to investigate human-robot interactions in healthy and clinical populations in greater depth
Further investigations with follow-up assessment are warranted to extend the findings of our study
The original contributions presented in the study are included in the article/<a href="#h14">Supplementary Materials</a>
The studies involving human participants were reviewed and approved by Human Ethics Committee of Hiroshima University
and SU approved the final version of manuscript
This research was supported by a Hiroshima ROBOCARE CENTER
Grant-in-Aid for Scientific Research from the Japanese Ministry of Education
and Technology (17K01503 and 20H04044; SU)
and research funds from Hiroshima University (187018)
The Supplementary Material for this article can be found online at: <a href="https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fnbot.2022.795079/full#supplementary-material">https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fnbot.2022.795079/full#supplementary-material</a>
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Fujita N and Urakawa S (2022) Involvement of the Rostromedial Prefrontal Cortex in Human-Robot Interaction: fNIRS Evidence From a Robot-Assisted Motor Task
Received: 14 October 2021; Accepted: 17 February 2022; Published: 17 March 2022
Copyright &#x000A9; 2022 Le, Watanabe, Ogawa, Matsushita, Imada, Taki, Iwamoto, Imura, Araki, Araki, Ono, Nishijo, Fujita and Urakawa. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the <a rel="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/" target="_blank">Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY)</a>
&#x0002A;Correspondence: Susumu Urakawa, <a id="encmail">dXJha2F3YXNAaGlyb3NoaW1hLXUuYWMuanA=</a>
“More than ninety percent of chemicals go through a catalytic process during their production,” says Atsushi Urakawa
professor of catalysis engineering at the department of Chemical Engineering at TU Delft
catalysts are like magic stones: we don’t know how they work
but they work beautifully – making chemical reactions run much faster
reducing the energy needed for these reactions and allowing us to steer reactions towards the desired end-products.”
Urakawa chose to study chemistry because of its practical impact in solving then current problems such as acid rain
He quickly developed a fascination for catalysis
ultimately moving into the field of CO2 chemistry
we can use catalysis to convert it into useful chemicals such as fuels,” he says
“The normal trial and error approach to improve these catalytic processes is not bad
but it takes a lot of money and twenty to thirty years’ time to develop
Looking at the timescale of the global challenges we face
It is my belief that a rational design of catalysts and the catalytic process is the solution.”
A catalyst is a substance that speeds up a chemical reaction without the substance itself undergoing any change
Catalysts are widely utilised by the chemical industry in processing petroleum and to create all kinds of bulk and fine chemicals
Countless products we use in our daily lives also depend on catalysts: gasoline
Shifting to a rational design is much easier said than done
One of Urakawa’s past supervisors even told him that rational catalyst design was impossible because of the range of timescales and length-scales involved
“Catalysis is a black box at all these scales
“We just didn’t have the proper tools before to open this black box.”&nbsp;
Most researchers in the catalysis community focus on the atomic scale (nanometre scale) – if the reaction doesn’t work at that scale
it won’t work at the larger scale of a reactor either
he travelled the world to also become proficient in quantum chemistry and chemical engineering
“My expertise is looking at catalysis holistically
from the atomic scale up to the reactor scale
What is happening where and what species are present
Without understanding what is happening in the reactor
we can never rationally design a catalytic process."
One of the key activities in his research group at TU Delft therefore is so-called operando spectroscopy
which is used to look into the catalyst and the reactor under industrially-relevant operating conditions
he develops new catalytic materials and new processes – mainly for the sustainable conversion of CO2 into fuels like methanol
“These catalytic processes have many challenges in common,” Urakawa says
“We want to lower the amount of energy needed to run these processes and increase their selectivity in creating the desired end-product
Long-term stability of the catalyst is important as well.” His group is unique in that it researches all three catalytic processes: “classical” thermal catalysis at high temperature and pressure
electrocatalysis (using green electricity) and photocatalysis (using light)
and if a combination of methods can be even better.”
The return to his alma mater TU Delft is instrumental in allowing Urakawa to satisfy his nearly endless curiosity into the working of catalytic processes
“There are so many scientists here covering all scales; molecular physics
we have core expertise for each of these topics
And when we need world-class expertise on any topic
we look for collaborations – within our own department
The favourable industrial climate also played a role in him moving here
but it has a very long and strong history in catalysis and it is jam-packed with chemical industries,” he says
it is crucial to interact with industry on a daily basis.”
Another reason for re-joining TU Delft has been his passion for education: Urakawa had been able to pursue an excellent master’s education and wanted to return the favour
Urakawa: “The technical challenges in accelerating catalytic process design are too great for me and my generation alone to tackle
I hope I can be a stepping-stone for those coming after me to continue this work.”&nbsp;
there is also an economic aspect that hampers large-scale sustainable conversion of CO2 with the use of renewable energy and renewable hydrogen
“But the price of renewable energy is going down
and the price of fossil energy is going up due to carbon taxing
and we’ll have the proper technology in place when it does.”&nbsp;
Harmful AlgaeCitation Excerpt :Upon return to the laboratory
200 ml of water samples were passed through 0.2 µm polysulfone/cellulose nitrate membrane filters (47 mm diameter
ThermoScientific Nalgene analytical test filter funnels) to collect algal biomass
We used 23S rRNA primers designed by Sherwood and Presting (Sherwood and Presting
2007) and the Illumina MiSeq platform for sequencing (RTL Genomics
USA) as described previously (Hancock et al.
The forward and reverse reads were formated into FASTQ and merged using PEAR Illumina paired-end read merger (Zhang et al.
The Japan Academy has announced that Atsushi Urakawa has been awarded the “Japan Academy Medal”
This award is presented to 6 eminent researchers who have received the JSPS Award (presented by the Japan Society for the Promotion of Science) that Urakawa received last month
A total of 25 researchers from all disciplines received the JSPS Award in this round
The prize is highly prestigious and one of the highest recognition in academia (in all fields; not only in science) in Japan
It recognizes relatively young researchers with rich creativity
superlative research ability and outstanding promises to be one of the global leaders in their field of research
The Japan Academy and the JSPS acknowledge Urakawas notable contributions to the catalysis science and anticipates continuing his role in innovating and leading the field
The award ceremony is usually held in February in the presence of representative royal family members
this event has been cancelled for the first time due to the pandemic
In any case I was requested to share some information about my research with them
It is very encouraging to experience their eagerness and interests to learn about the cutting-edge research of the awardees.” 
Check &lt;link recipients of the japan academy medal&gt;here the recipients of the Japan Academy Medal
Volume 6 - 2018 | <a class="ArticleLayoutHeader__info__doi" href="https://doi.org/10.3389/fcell.2018.00153">https://doi.org/10.3389/fcell.2018.00153</a>
A disintegrin and metalloproteinases (ADAMs) are a Zn2+-dependent transmembrane and secreted metalloprotease superfamily
so-called &#x201C;molecular scissors,&#x201D; and they consist of an N-terminal signal sequence
ADAMs perform proteolytic processing of the ectodomains of diverse transmembrane molecules into bioactive mediators
This review summarizes on their most well-known members
ADAM10 is expressed in renal tubular cells and affects the expression of specific brush border genes
and its activation is involved in some renal diseases
ADAM17 is weakly expressed in normal kidneys
but its expression is markedly induced in the tubules
and it is involved in interstitial fibrosis and tubular atrophy
the various substrates have been identified in the kidneys
Shedding fragments become released ligands
and act as the chemoattractant factors including CXCL16
Their ectodomain shedding is closely correlated with pathological factors
the substrates of both ADAMs contain the molecules that play important roles at the plasma membrane
the shedding products could be useful for biomarkers of renal diseases
but ADAM10 and 17 per se are also notable as biomarkers
ADAM10 and/or 17 inhibitions based on various strategies such as small molecules
and their recombinant prodomains are valuable
because they potentially protect renal tissues and promote renal regeneration
Although temporal and spatial regulations of inhibitors are problems to be solved
their inhibitors could be useful for renal diseases
and their activities are regulated by the prodomain
Active ADAMs cleave various membranous proteins as substrates in the kidneys
Some shedding fragments are detected in urine
and thus useful for the diagnosis of renal injuries
in the presence of interstitial fibrosis and tubular atrophy
ADAM17 expression is markedly upregulated in the tubules
reduction of the full-length CADM1 (FL-CADM1) level was correlated with tubular epithelial cell (TEC) apoptosis and increases of blood urea nitrogen (BUN) and serum creatinine (sCre)
it may be found that CADM1 ectodomain shedding could contribute to the development of chronic kidney disease (CKD)
Substrates for ADAM 10 and 17 in the kidneys
The effects of ADAM10 activation on E-cadherin shedding was actually reported in ADPKD (autosomal dominant polycystic kidney disease)
Pkd1 (an ADPKD responsible gene) mutation or deletion promotes the maturation of ADAM10 via G&#x03B1;12 activation
which increases E-cadherin shedding and results in the cystogenesis of renal TECs
and the shedding fragments could also be an early biomarker to predict DN-induced CKD
Both ADAMs thus play essential roles in Notch signal activation and renal fibrosis
a soluble form of meprin &#x03B2; is produced and released into urine after IR injury
and thus meprin &#x03B2; shedding also marked potential as a urine biomarker for renal injuries
ADAM10 activation leads to the dysfunction of phosphate excretion (hyperphosphatemia)
ADAM10 and 17 are closely correlated with renal injuries including excess inflammation and tubular cell destruction. In addition to their substrates, ADAM10 and 17 per se are also important biomarkers of renal dysfunctions, such as early DN (<a href="#B69">Petrica et al., 2017</a>; <a href="#B29">Gutta et al., 2018</a>). Furthermore, many efforts have been made to develop strategies to block ADAM10 and 17 activities involving small molecules and monoclonal antibodies (Figure <a href="#F2">2</a>)
Small molecule inhibitors and monoclonal antibodies directly prevent the interactions between proteases and substrates
Recombinant ADAM10 and 17 prodomain (wt and its mutant) close active sites
many hydroxamate-based compounds show hepatotoxicity
and so their clinical application requires close attention
Monoclonal antibodies (mAb) can overcome the problems of hydroxamate-based compounds. The 8C7 mAb masked the ADAM10 recognition pocket and was more efficient than GM6001, a broad-spectrum metalloprotease inhibitor (<a href="#B3">Atapattu et al., 2012</a>)
the 8C7 antibody could inhibit tumor growth in mouse models
targeted inhibition of active ADAM10 might be a potential therapy for some kinds of renal injuries
The recombinant mouse ADAM10 prodomain is a potent competitive inhibitor of human ADAM10 activity with higher selectively (<a href="#B57">Moss et al., 2007</a>)
Because targeted inhibition of active ADAM10 and/or 17 is expected to become a potential therapy for associated diseases
ADAM10 and 17 have many substrates with diverse functions; therefore
it is important for the temporal and spatial regulation of inhibitors to avoid undesirable side effects
TK conceived the idea and wrote the manuscript
MH and AI edited the manuscript and helped to improve the quality of this review paper
This study was supported by Japan Society for the Promotion of Science KAKENHI grants (17K08680 to MH
and 18K07049 to AI); the Ministry of Education
Science and Technology-Supported Program for the Strategic Research Foundation at Private Universities 2015-18 (to AI); and a 21st Century Joint Research Enhancement Grant of Kindai University (to AI)
The transmembrane CXC-chemokine ligand 16 is induced by IFN-gamma and TNF-alpha and shed by the activity of the disintegrin-like metalloproteinase ADAM10
<a name="B2" id="B2"></a>Artavanis-Tsakonas
Notch signaling: cell fate control and signal integration in development
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Antibodies binding the ADAM10 substrate recognition domain inhibit Eph function
A metalloproteinase disintegrin that releases tumour-necrosis factor-alpha from cells
snake venom and matrix metalloproteinases exhibit identical zinc-binding environments (HEXXHXXGXXH and Met-turn) and topologies and should be grouped into a common family
Meprin metalloprotease expression and regulation in kidney
The metalloproteases meprin &#x03B1; and meprin &#x03B2;: unique enzymes in inflammation
A novel proteolytic cleavage involved in Notch signaling: the role of the disintegrin-metalloprotease TACE
plays an important role in hypoxic/ischemic acute renal tubular injury in rats
Insulin stimulates the cleavage and release of the extracellular domain of Klotho by ADAM10 and ADAM17
Rosiglitazone treatment of type 2 diabetic db/db mice attenuates urinary albumin and angiotensin converting enzyme 2 excretion
A disintegrin and metalloprotease 10 activity sheds the ectodomain of the amyloid precursor-like protein 2 and regulates protein expression in proximal tubule cells
ADAM10 as a therapeutic target for cancer and inflammation
<a href="https://doi.org/10.2174/138161209788682442" target="_blank">CrossRef Full Text</a> | <a href="http://scholar.google.com/scholar_lookup?&#x0026;title=ADAM10+as+a+therapeutic+target+for+cancer+and+inflammation%2E&#x0026;journal=Curr%2E++Pharm%2E+Des%2E&#x0026;author=Crawford+H.+C.&#x0026;author=Dempsey+P.+J.&#x0026;author=Brown+G.&#x0026;author=Adam+L.&#x0026;author=and+Moss+M.+L.&#x0026;publication_year=2009&#x0026;volume=15&#x0026;pages=2288-2299" target="_blank">Google Scholar</a>
A novel inhibitor of tumor necrosis factor-alpha converting enzyme ameliorates polycystic kidney disease
Targeting ADAM17 inhibits human colorectal adenocarcinoma progression and tumor-initiating cell frequency
The role of ADAM- mediated shedding in vascular biology
ADAM-family metalloproteinases in lung inflammation: potential therapeutic targets
The ADAMs family of proteases: new biomarkers and therapeutic targets for cancer
Immunoregulatory role of TNFalpha in inflammatory kidney diseases
Gamma-secretase-mediated proteolysis in cell-surface-receptor signalling
Selective inhibition of ADAM metalloproteases as a novel approach for modulating ErbB pathways in cancer
Accelerated receptor shedding inhibits kidney injury molecule-1 (KIM-1)-mediated efferocytosis
FGF23 decreases renal NaPi-2a and NaPi-2c expression and induces hypophosphatemia in vivo predominantly via FGF receptor 1
ADAM17 promotes proliferation of collecting duct kidney epithelial cells through ERK activation and increased glycolysis in polycystic kidney disease
A disintegrin and metalloproteinase 10-mediated cleavage and shedding regulates the cell surface expression of CXC chemokine ligand 16
EGF promotes the shedding of soluble E-cadherin in an ADAM10-dependent manner in prostate epithelial cells
Increased urinary angiotensin converting enzyme 2 (ACE2) and neprilysin (NEP) in type 2 diabetic patients
CXCL16 and oxLDL are induced in the onset of diabetic nephropathy
CXCL16 is expressed in podocytes and acts as a scavenger receptor for oxidized low-density lipoprotein
The disintegrin/metalloprotease ADAM 10 is essential for Notch signalling but not for alpha-secretase activity in fibroblasts
ADAM10 is the major sheddase responsible for the release of membrane-associated meprin A
(2017) Selective Inhibition of ADAM17 efficiently mediates glycoprotein ib&#x03B1; retention during ex vivo generation of human induced pluripotent stem cell-derived platelets
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Notch in fibrosis and as a target of anti-fibrotic therapy
(2016) Activation of the CXCL16/CXCR6 pathway by inflammation contributes to atherosclerosis in patients with end-stage renal disease
<a href="http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/sites/entrez?Db=pubmed&#x0026;Cmd=ShowDetailView&#x0026;TermToSearch=27877078" target="_blank">PubMed Abstract</a> | <a href="https://doi.org/10.7150/ijms.16724" target="_blank">CrossRef Full Text</a>
The disintegrin-like metalloproteinase ADAM10 is involved in constitutive cleavage of CX3CL1(fractalkine) and regulates CX3CL1-mediated cell-cell adhesion
Adhesion molecule CADM1 contributes to gap junctional communication among pancreatic islet &#x03B1;-cells and prevents their excessive secretion of glucagon
Cell adhesion molecule-1 shedding induces apoptosis of renal epithelial cells and exacerbates human nephropathies
ADAM17 substrate release in proximal tubule drives kidney fibrosis
Active metalloproteases of the A Disintegrin and Metalloprotease (ADAM) family: biological function and structure
Developmental expression of meprin metalloprotease subunits in ICR and C3H/He mouse kidney and intestine in the embryo
Regulation of fibroblast growth factor-23 signaling by klotho
Development of a &#x2019;mouse and human cross-reactive&#x2019; affinity-matured exosite inhibitory human antibody specific to TACE (ADAM17) for cancer immunotherapy
Renal endothelial protein C receptor expression and shedding during diabetic nephropathy
Triptolide is a traditional Chinese medicine-derived inhibitor of polycystic kidney disease
Immunohistochemical localization of Klotho protein in brain
Metalloproteinase inhibitors for the disintegrin-like metalloproteinases ADAM10 and ADAM17 that differentially block constitutive and phorbol ester-inducible shedding of cell surface molecules
ADAM10 mediates the cell invasion and metastasis of human esophageal squamous cell carcinoma via regulation of E-cadherin activity
A potential new target for asthma therapy: a disintegrin and metalloprotease 10 (ADAM10) involvement in murine experimental asthma
Identification of the human klotho gene and its two transcripts encoding membrane and secreted klotho protein
Epithelial immaturity and multiorgan failure in mice lacking epidermal growth factor receptor
Increased ectodomain shedding of lung epithelial cell adhesion molecule 1 as a cause of increased alveolar cell apoptosis in emphysema
a novel cell-surface scavenger receptor for phosphatidylserine and oxidized LDL in human atherosclerotic lesions
The ADAM10 prodomain is a specific inhibitor of ADAM10 proteolytic activity and inhibits cellular shedding events
ADAM17 up-regulation in renal transplant dysfunction and non-transplant-related renal fibrosis
Tumor suppressor cell adhesion molecule 1 (CADM1) is cleaved by a disintegrin and metalloprotease 10 (ADAM10) and subsequently cleaved by &#x03B3;-secretase complex
Aberrations of a cell adhesion molecule CADM4 in renal clear cell carcinoma
Transforming growth factor alpha (TGF-alpha) and other targets of tumor necrosis factor-alpha converting enzyme (TACE) in murine polycystic kidney disease
Atherogenic scavenger receptor modulation in the tubulointerstitium in response to chronic renal injury
Presenilins mediate a dual intramembranous gamma-secretase cleavage of Notch-1
Heightened cleavage of Axl receptor tyrosine kinase by ADAM metalloproteases may contribute to disease pathogenesis in SLE
Molecular basis for the mechanism of action of an anti-TACE antibody
a new player in the pathogenesis of chronic kidney disease-mineral and bone disorder
An essential role for ectodomain shedding in mammalian development
Urinary podocyte-associated mRNA levels correlate with proximal tubule dysfunction in early diabetic nephropathy of type 2 diabetes mellitus
Epidermal growth factor receptor activity mediates renal cyst formation in polycystic kidney disease
Monoclonal antibody to ADAM17 inhibits tumor growth by inhibiting EGFR and non-EGFR-mediated pathways
The alpha secretase ADAM10: a metalloprotease with multiple functions in the brain
<a name="B74" id="B74"></a>Sanchez-Ni&#x00F1;o M
TNF superfamily: a growing saga of kidney injury modulators
ADAM17: a molecular switch to control inflammation and tissue regeneration
Characterization of CXCL16 and ADAM10 in the normal and transplanted kidney
Chemokines generally exhibit scavenger receptor activity through their receptor-binding domain
Triptolide: an in- hibitor of a disintegrin and metalloproteinase 10 (ADAM10) in cancer cells
The antiatherogenic effect of fish oil in male mice is associated with a diminished release of endothelial ADAM17 and ADAM10 substrates
membrane-bound and secreted astacin metalloproteinases
<a href="http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/sites/entrez?Db=pubmed&#x0026;Cmd=ShowDetailView&#x0026;TermToSearch=18783725" target="_blank">PubMed Abstract</a> | <a href="https://doi.org/10.1016/j.mam.2008.08.002" target="_blank">CrossRef Full Text</a>
The metzincins&#x2013;topological and sequential relations between the astacins
and matrixins (collagenases) define a superfamily of zinc-peptidases
Kick it up a notch: notch signaling and kidney fibrosis
Vascular ADAM17 as a novel therapeutic target in mediating cardiovascular hypertrophy and perivascular fibrosis induced by angiotensin II
Cross-domain inhibition of TACE ectodomain
Klotho converts canonical FGF receptor into a specific receptor for FGF23
protects the renal microcirculation during sepsis
The metalloproteinase ADAM10: a useful therapeutic target
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Harnessing the natural inhibitory domain to control TNF&#x03B1; converting enzyme (TACE) activity in vivo
and CXC chemokine ligand 16 in multiple murine lupus strains and human lupus nephritis
Characterization of angiotensin-converting enzyme 2 ectodomain shedding from mouse proximal tubular cells
Polycystin-1 and G&#x03B1;12 regulate the cleavage of E-cadherin in kidney epithelial cells
Integration of TGF-beta/Smad and Jagged1/Notch signalling in epithelial-to-mesenchymal transition
Rapamycin promotes &#x03B2;-amyloid production via ADAM-10 inhibition
Targeting ADAM-mediated ligand cleavage to inhibit HER3 and EGFR pathways in non-small cell lung cancer
Hagiyama M and Ito A (2018) Renal ADAM10 and 17: Their Physiological and Medical Meanings
Copyright &#x00A9; 2018 Kato, Hagiyama and Ito. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the <a rel="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/" target="_blank">Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY)</a>
*Correspondence: Akihiko Ito, <a id="encmail">YWl0b0BtZWQua2luZGFpLmFjLmpw</a>
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Dynamic networks constructed by physical cross-links between polymer chains can change their structure through the association and dissociation of cross-linking points
This paper yields experimental data about the transient change of the dynamic storage modulus G′ for a molten random copolymer of vinyl acetate and vinyl alcohol with a vinyl alcohol content of 60 mol%
in which physical cross-links are formed via hydrogen bonding
As the cross-link density depends on temperature
the storage modulus G′ of the system slowly evolves toward equilibrium at the experimental temperature
after changing the temperature from higher or lower than Ta
The characteristic time scale for the equilibration is on the order of 103~104 s (depending on Ta) and the time evolution curves of G′ are dependent on the thermal history
The ‘memory effect’ (the structure developed at a certain temperature is preserved after changing the temperature) found in the system is discussed in detail
they commonly have various out-of-equilibrium meta-stable states and long equilibration times
The state or structure of systems evolved at a certain temperature
is known to be preserved to a certain degree even after a successive temperature change below Ta
This is called the memory effect and commonly appears in several random systems with many metastable states
although the detailed mechanism is still unclear
we present a preliminary result concerning the memory effect for a model random system that has not been investigated so far: a temporary network in which polymers are cross-linked to each other via hydrogen (H-) bonding interactions at temperatures far above Tg
as the binding energy of H-bonds is higher than the thermal energy RT~2.5 kJ mol−1 (at room temperature)
this bond can survive for a long time at low temperatures
Various combinations of these two types of H-bonds give rise to many possible structures having similar free energies
The multiple hydrogen bonds result in a prolonged lifetime of the associated structure
because all the hydrogen bonds rarely break up at the same time
the system will need a long time to reach a ‘real’ equilibrium state
hopping through many meta-stable structures
This situation is analogous to a glassy state and can thus be a model system to examine the intricate dynamics for frustrated random systems
The advantageous point of this system is that the equilibration time can be controlled by changing the chemical structure of the H-bonding site and/or its number in a polymer chain
The physical gelation of the polymer solution reported by Parker and Normand<a data-track="click" data-track-action="reference anchor" data-track-label="link" data-test="citation-ref" aria-label="Reference 11" title="Parker, A. &amp; Normand, V. Glassy dynamics of gelatin gels. Soft Matter 6, 4916–4919 (2010)." href="/articles/pj2016113#ref-CR11" id="ref-link-section-d437616838e517">11</a> is a similar case that exhibits the memory effect related to network formation
They used gelatin gel in which the generation of a triple helix structure to serve as a cross-linking point triggers the gelation
the linkage structure of their system is complex
because the reversibility of association and dissociation by way of the coil↔helix transition is highly asymmetric compared to our system described below
the mechanical response will be affected by the rigid rod-like helix structure
As a non-crystalline network-forming system
poly(vinyl acetate-co-vinyl alcohol) with various copolymer compositions
in which hydroxyl (OH) group can form hydrogen bonds (cross-linking points)
the data are shown and discussed in detail only for P(VA-OH60)
and exhibits clear network forming behavior
VAc) represents a fraction of the neighboring unit of VOH and VAc
For the examination of the hydrogen bonding structure in bulk P(VA-OH) samples
the infrared absorption (IR) spectra were measured with an IR spectrometer (Excalibur FTS 3000
Japan) using transmission method for the samples sandwiched between CaF2 windows with the diameter of 20 mm and thickness of 1 mm
The temperatures were monitored by a thermocouple
which was set in the brass CaF2 holder and controlled within ±0.2 °C by a heating unit (homemade apparatus) being set in the spectrometer
the time interval necessary for the temperature equilibration was about 1 min
The rheological measurements were conducted by using ARES G2 (TA Instruments
Japan) equipped with 8 mm (diameter) parallel plates
The creep measurements were performed with MCR702 (Anton Paar
Japan) equipped with also 8 mm parallel plates
the temperatures of the bottom plate were monitored by a thermocouple and regarded as the sample temperatures
</a>FTIR spectra of (a) C=O stretching band and (b) O-H stretching band in bulk P(VA-OH)s with various OH content and PVAc (containing a few % OH group)
A full color version of this figure is available at Polymer Journal online
we found that free (non-H-bonded) OH did not exist in the bulk state
The free OH peak was confirmed to appear at around 3660 cm−1 for toluene solution of P(VA-OH10)
These results indicate that all the OH groups are bonded to the C=O or other OH groups in the molten P(VA-OH) samples
the shape of the OH stretching band broadens toward lower wave numbers with increasing fOH
suggesting the formation of the H-bonded structures with multiply-connected OH groups (OH···OH···OH···) and its multiplicity increases with fOH
From the molar contents of free or H-bonded C=O groups, we determined the fraction of the OH groups which are H-bonded with C=O or other OH groups based on the assumption that there exists no free OH group. The result is shown in <a data-track="click" data-track-label="link" data-track-action="figure anchor" href="/articles/pj2016113#Fig2">Figure 2</a>, which indicates that the H-bonded structure in the P(VA-OH) systems mainly consists of the OH···OH connected species.
</a>fOH dependence of the molar fraction of hydrogen bonded OH with OH or C=O groups at 30 °C
</a>FTIR spectra for (a) C=O stretching and (b) O-H stretching bands of P(VA-OH60) at various temperatures. A full color version of this figure is available at Polymer Journal online.
</a>Temperature dependence of the molar fraction of hydrogen bonded OH with OH or with C=O groups for P(VA-OH60). A full color version of this figure is available at Polymer Journal online.
</a>Schematic illustration of the change in the OH···OH multiple H-bonding structure in P(VA-OH) samples
</a>Comparison of absorption spectra at 150 °C and after the temperature drop to 120 °C at t~0 s and 5400 s
for (a) C=O stretching and (b) OH stretching bands
The data at t~0 s were taken after the temperature of the FTIR sample holder having reached T=120±0.5 °C
It took about 1 min for changing temperature
to take the spectrum data (32 times averaging) it also takes about 1 min
there is an ambiguity in the time scale on the order of 102 s
</a>(a) Composite curve of storage modulus G′(ω) for molten P(VA-OH60) superposed in the high frequency region
(b) Time dependence of shear strain during the creep and creep recovery test
Constant strain (σ=200 Pa) was applied at t=0
The zero shear viscosity η0 can be estimated from the unrecovered strain (η0=σ0tu/γur) to be 4.3 × 107 Pas and the relaxation time τterm can also be estimated to be 3.8 × 104 s from the η0 and the recoverable compliance JR (=8.8 × 10−4 Pa−1) as JRη0
</a>Typical thermal history applied to the P(VA-OH60) sample (upper figure) and time evolution of G′ (at ω=1 s−1) accompanied by such temperature changes (lower figure)
It is noteworthy that after the T-drop the shape of the FTIR spectra reached equilibrium rapidly (within 102 s; see <a data-track="click" data-track-label="link" data-track-action="figure anchor" href="/articles/pj2016113#Fig6">Figure 6</a>)
To explain the different time evolution behavior between FTIR and rheology
we think the ratio of intra- to inter-molecular H-bond will be an important factor
FTIR cannot distinguish two types of H-bond
while the rheological (G′) measurement detects the latter emphatically
the different time evolution behavior could be explained by assuming the following possible structural change
intra-molecular association will be preferably formed in non-equilibrium state due to quick bond formation mostly between the nearest pair of OH groups
which stochastically belong to the same chain and then gradually switches to inter-molecular association without changing the number of H-bonds
We think that there is a certain equilibrium number ratio of the intra- to inter-chain association at each temperature; however
an intra-chain rich H-bonding structure will be temporarily formed by a kinetic reason
Such temporary structure may be slightly unstable
because the formation of intra-chain bonds will make single chain conformation more compact and non-Gaussian like
Such energy difference can be the driving force to switch from intra- to inter-chain H-bonds
The volume fraction of OH groups belonging to the different chain around one OH group will be high enough in the molten P(VA-OH60) system to form inter-chain H-bond
the terminal time of P(VA-OH60) seems to be much longer than the lifetime of individual hydrogen bonds
This will be due to the multiple H-bonds formed in polymeric system
Several polymer chains zip together via multiple H-bonds
and would need to break many H-bonds at the same time to relax
we have to wait until knowing the individual lifetime of H-bonds somehow by some experimental methods such as transient IR spectroscopy
As shown in <a data-track="click" data-track-label="link" data-track-action="figure anchor" href="/articles/pj2016113#Fig8">Figure 8</a>
After the second temperature drop to 100 °C (T2)
G′ increased instantaneously and subsequently changed toward a new equilibrium state
The instant change of G′ after the T-drop is mainly caused by the change in the chain relaxation component (change in the friction factor)
which increases the G′ by ~1 decade at ω=1 s−1
When the successive temperature change jumped to 120 °C (T3)
G′ decreased instantaneously and then gradually increased
If the magnitude of the plateau modulus reflecting the cross-linking density is simply determined only by temperature
G′ should monotonically decrease after this temperature change from 100 to 120 °C
The present results indicate that the magnitude of the plateau modulus is determined in a more complicated way depending on the thermal history
A network structure evolved at 120 °C (T1) in the first aging process is retained
and the annealing at 100 °C (T2) seems to have no effect on that structure because in the third annealing process at 120 °C (T3)
the G′ value starts to increase from the point reached in the first aging at 120 °C (T1)
In the fourth annealing process at 100 °C (T4)
G′ traces almost the same time dependence as in the 2nd annealing process at 100 °C (T2)
This means that high temperature annealing at 120 °C (T3) completely erases the memory of the structure evolved at the T2 annealing
<a data-track="click" data-track-label="link" data-track-action="figure anchor" href="/articles/pj2016113#Fig9">Figure 9</a> shows the results of aging experiments varying the temperature of the second annealing, T2 (100 °C (a), 110 °C (b) or 115 °C (c)). The result of long time annealing at 120 °C, which corresponds to T1=T2=T3=120 °C, is also shown in these figures by solid curves. The 120 °C annealing data can be experimentally fitted by the sum of two retardation functions.
</a>Time evolution of G′ measured at ω=1 s−1 for P(VA-OH60) under several thermal histories
The solid curves indicate the single temperature annealing results at 120 °C
the G′ curves at T3 were superposed on the solid (single temperature annealing) curve by a horizontal left shift with tshift=t2-t1-τeff
The parameters in this equation were determined to be  and τl=4540 s
It is worth noting that τl is one order shorter than the terminal time τterm (3.8 × 104 s) estimated from the creep experiment
This is possibly because the retardation component corresponding to the terminal time cannot be detected by this shorter time experiment
This means that the network structure evolved during T1-annealing continues to develop at T2 if ΔT is small
the network formations at T1 and T2 become independent
the independence of the structural evolution between T1 and T2 only appears when ΔT is large (⩾20 °C)
a loose network with a low cross-linking density is formed
Such a structure will be entropically more stable than that formed at a lower temperature due to the relaxed conformation of each chain and also each network strand resulting from the lower number of H-bonded points and higher mobility
Such a free-energy difference will be essential for the appearance of the memory effect
new H-bonds are created between the nearest pair of O and OH groups
partially unstable (frustrated) structures are incorporated
The formerly constructed stable structures at T1 will not change so easily even though new H-bonds are added in the system at T2
newly formed H-bonds will be easily broken up and reformed in the system
gradually evolving to a more stable structure by preserving the old (stable) H-bonding parts
the equilibration time becomes longer than that at T1 due to the higher cross-linking density and lower molecular mobility; accordingly
the change of the stable H-bonding structure becomes harder
the stable structure formed at T1 is largely preserved during the T2-annealing
After the next temperature change from T2 to T3 (=T1)
the unstable structure is selectively broken
We think this is the possible mechanism of the appearance of the memory effect
</a>Schematic illustration of energy landscapes
which are drawn with different enlargement factors at each temperature
a similar energy landscape picture can be drawn
This scenario for the appearance of the memory effect suggests the universal feature in random frustrated systems
We examined the structure and dynamics of non-entangled random copolymer of vinyl acetate and vinyl alcohol
in which hydrogen bonding interaction plays a role
Among the samples with different copolymer compositions
the P(VA-OH60) with the OH content of 60% exhibited clear plateau region in the storage modulus due to the temporal hydrogen bonding network structure
FTIR measurements on the molten P(VA-OH) systems revealed that the major component of the H-bonding structure was OH···OH bond (the OH···O=C bond was minor)
It has been considered that this type of hydrogen bonds formed between different polymer chains will be the main cause of the network formation
By changing the temperature of the bulk P(VA-OH60) equilibrated at 150–120 °C
the G′ value changed slowly toward new equilibrium on the time scale longer than 103 s
the FTIR spectra changed much faster (faster than 102 s) compared with the case of G′
The long evolution time of the G′ was ascribed to the change of the H-bonding structure from the intra-chain to the inter-chain one
Concerning the time evolution of the plateau modulus for the molten P(VA-OH60) system
we observed the memory effect; The G′ value developed at 120 °C was preserved after annealing at 100 °C and getting back to 120 °C
For the appearance of this type of memory effect
the formation of the frustrated H-bonding structure and its stability difference at different temperatures were considered to be the key factors
From the analogy with the glass forming system
we concluded that the temporal cross-linking via H-bonds had a similar effect as the densification of glassy materials on the structural evolution
Physical Aging in Polymers and Other Amorphous Materials
Relaxation in glassforming liquids and amorphous solids
Advanced memory effects in the aging of a polymer glass
Time-temperature independence of aging-induced relaxation peak in the glassy state
Aging phenomena in poly(methyl methacrylate) thin films: memory and rejuvenation effects
Dynamic shear measurements of physical aging and the memory effect in a polymer glass
Spin glasses: model systems for non-equilibrium dynamics
The energy landscapes and motions of proteins
Hydrogen-bonded supramolecular polymer networks
Model transient networks from strongly hydrogen-bonded polymers
Thermoreversible supramacromolecular ion gels via hydrogen bonding
Large macro-dipoles generated in a supramolecular polymer of N,N',N''-tris(3,7-dimethyloctyl) benzene-1,3,5-tricarboxamide in n-decane
Thermoreversible gelation in solutions of associative polymers
Thermoreversible gelation in solutions of associating polymers
C-13-NMR and H-1-NMR investigations of sequence distribution in vinyl alcohol vinyl acetate copolymers
Hydrogen-bonding and sequence distribution in poly(vinyl acetate-co-vinyl alcohol) copolymers
Small-angle neutron scattering study on the miscibility and concentration fluctuation of hydrogen-bonded polymer blends
Specific Interactions and the Miscibility of Polymer Blends
Viscoelastic Properties of Polymers4th edn (Wiley
Ultrafast hydrogen-bond dynamics in the infrared spectroscopy of water
Supercooled liquids and the glass transition
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This work was supported by JSPS KAKENHI Grant Number 21350126
The authors declare no conflict of interest
<a data-track="click" data-track-label="link" data-track-action="supplementary material anchor" href="/articles/pj2016113#MOESM1">Supplementary Information</a> accompanies the paper on Polymer Journal website
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Many recreational boaters glide by the Vester Marine and Environmental Research Field Station on Little Hickory Island in Bonita Springs
Some may not realize that the multi-structure facility – formerly a resort – and some of the boats with which they share local waterways constitute waterfront and floating classrooms for FGCU students learning about Southwest Florida marine life
Along with instruction at the main FGCU campus 14 miles away in South Fort Myers
undergraduate and post-graduate students in marine science and environmental studies are using the Vester Field Station again this semester for marine sample collecting
New equipment being used for the first time at Vester this fall include an automatic water sampler
a continuous water quality monitor and a specific ion electrode system that “measures ammonia
oxygen and other ingredients in our waters,” said Michael Parsons
FGCU professor of marine science and director of the Coastal Watershed Institute
“It all helps to show students the extent of how both humans and marine life influence the water,” said Parsons
who is in the midst of his first semester directing the program
The station also occasionally hosts visits by area youngsters
plus facilitates other community-outreach programs
Parsons assessed the immense value of being able to take students — approximately 5,000 in the last nine years — out on the water
“Besides the many other tools we provide them
the hands-on experiences make them even more aware of all the conditions for human and marine life,” said Parsons
“It pays dividends in their studies and their careers.”
FGCU uses various vessels – two Tidewaters
a Carolina Skiff and a Sea Hawk – donated by individuals or purchased from San Carlos Marine
The Vester Station also is the site for two separate current graduate projects
• Allie Bury is studying the exposure of seagrass to oil
comparing Estero Bay’s water to what was obtained on a special trip in May off the Chandeleur Islands near New Orleans
in the aftermath of the Deepwater Horizon oil spill of 2010
• Matt Gamel is testing growth of seaweed (seagrapes) in fish tanks for potential commercial and private applications
Previous research studies have included measuring the presence of invasive exotic species Asian Green Mussels; organisms that live in oyster reef environments; shark tagging to gauge levels of toxicity in the local marine food chain
The Vester Station was established in June 2007 after the Florida Gulf Coast University Foundation acquired the waterfront facility
FGCU purchased the facility from Norm and Nancy Vester
who operated it as the Bonita Beach Plantation Resort
The property consists of three buildings: a main residence that includes a classroom
wet and dry laboratories and an office; an apartment building that accommodates visiting students
guest speakers and collaborators for short and extended stays situated atop an open area for marine life research including holding tanks connected to a running seawater system
a conference room and another wet and dry lab
The site is surrounded by water on three sides and includes 11 boat slips (five with boat lifts) with easy access to the Gulf
class at Vester follow a different lesson plan
students took two separate water samples — from near the surface and closer to the shallow bottom — to test for salinity
especially timely due to the effects of the fresh-water releases in the Caloosahatchee
put a drop of water into one of several sensor devices and peered in to record two different levels
“We can’t get enough of this hands-on experience.”
Students then ventured out in eight canoes to collect Crown Conch snails
With graduate student Nick Culligan at the helm of the Carolina Skiff
“I direct them toward the mangroves a little
but it’s also good to let them figure it out on their own,” he said
the students measured the snails’ sizes and weights; they were then put into tanks for further analysis and soon returned to where they were found
“They are important to study,” said Urakawa
eat dead fish and are predators of oysters.”
To serve as a venue and base of operation for educational programs
community involvement and scholarly research that increases our understanding and promotes science-based stewardship of coastal watersheds
with special emphasis on the education of future scientists and scientifically literate citizens
Sandwiched between the Everglades and the Gulf of Mexico
the field station sits on a 0.81-acre parcel on Little Hickory Island in Bonita Springs
Florida; just 14 miles from the main campus
It provides access to Estero Bay and the Gulf of Mexico through Wiggins Pass to south or New Pass to the north and unparalleled access to various subtropical habitats such as oyster reefs
<a href="/articles/pj201265/metrics" data-track="click" data-track-action="view metrics" data-track-label="link" rel="nofollow">Metrics details</a>
The structural development of poly(butylene terephthalate) (PBT) fibers was analyzed using in situ wide angle X-ray diffraction and fiber temperature measurements during CO2 laser-heated drawing
in which the necking position on the running fiber could be fixed by CO2 laser irradiation
The measured parameters were determined as functions of the elapsed time after necking with a time resolution of 0.3 ms
which exhibited a low-oriented α-crystalline structure
were drawn to a draw ratio of 5 using laser heating
which indicates a quasi-smectic fibrillar structure
was not observed before crystallization in contrast to measurements of poly(ethylene terephthalate) (PET) and poly(ethylene 2,6-naphthalene dicarboxylate) (PEN)
The α-crystal was transformed into an oriented β-form crystal at the necking position
and the developed β-crystallites exhibited increased size and altered orientation &lt;2 ms after necking
The fiber temperature increased rapidly at around Tg
and the rearrangement of the β-crystal primarily occurred as the fiber’s temperature rose from 100 to 160 °C
The oriented β-crystal of the drawn fiber transformed into the oriented α-crystal when the drawing tension was released
Poly(butylene terephthalate) (PBT) is a type of polyester produced by the polymerization of 1,4-butanediol and terephthalic acid
PBT has two more methylene (CH2) groups than poly(ethylene terephthalate) (PET)
which results in reduced coherence among molecules and provides the PBT fiber with increased flexibility
The higher chain flexibility causes a reversible crystal–crystal transition
and the PBT fiber thus exhibits good stretching properties with high stretch recovery
They also proposed a different β-crystal with dimensions of a=0.469 nm
we report in situ wide-angle X-ray diffraction (WAXD) measurements and fiber temperature studies on the reversible crystal structure transition during the fiber structure development of PBT during neck deformation
which was calculated using the distance between the measurement point and the necking position
This calculation allows good time resolution because the necking is confined to a narrow region in which CO2 laser radiation produces rapid and uniform heating
We successfully conducted the in situ analyses with a temporal resolution of &lt;1 ms
This study focused on the elapsed time between the occurrence of necking and the crystal–crystal transition in a PBT fiber during fiber structure development by CO2 laser-heated drawing
</a>Schematic diagram of the in situ measurement system
The PBT pellets ((η)=0.85 dl g−1) used in this study were melted and extruded through a single-hole spinneret with a 1.0-mm diameter (L/D=5) at 270 °C
The throughput rate was set to 3.6 g min−1
The spinning line was not equipped with a quenching air apparatus
The fiber was taken up with a speed of 361 m min−1
and the as-spun PBT fiber had a diameter of ∼100 μm
The as-spun PBT monofilament was drawn to a draw ratio of 5.0 at a feed speed of 18 m min−1 and a laser power of 11.0 W
The neck-drawing point was observed using a TK-C1461 charge coupled device camera from VICTOR Co
Japan) equipped a TV-1M telecentric lens from OPTART Co
The time resolution of each measurement point was estimated by dividing the resolution of the necking point position measurement by the fiber running speed
The resolution of the necking point position (Wx-ray) was calculated using the equation (1) based on the width of the X-ray beam (Wbeam)
the fluctuation of the necking point (Wneck) and the length of the necking deformation (Wdeform)
Wdeform and the average necking position were estimated by analyzing the charge coupled device camera images around the necking point
The time resolution was primarily influenced by Wneck and Wbeam
The position θ0 and the half width σ were determined by fitting the measurements to a Gaussian function (2)
The effect of beam divergence on σ was corrected using the width of the lead dioxide intensity profiles
The d-spacing and crystallite size D were calculated using Bragg’s equation (3) and Scherer’s equation (4)
The crystal orientation factor f was estimated by fitting the azimuthal intensity profiles of equatorial (010)
(100) and (−104) reflections to the Pearson VII function (equation (5)) and then using the fitted profiles in equation (6)
which was measured twice under each set of conditions
</a>WAXD patterns taken at various elapsed times after necking.
</a>WAXD intensity profiles along the (a) equator and (b) the meridian
no obvious quasi-smectic fibrillar structure was observed during the laser-heated drawing of PBT
likely because the transformation from the PBT mesophase to the crystalline structure occurs too rapidly to be observed with this measurement’s time resolution of 0.3 ms
</a>Crystallinity indices estimated from the equatorial intensity profiles
</a>Estimated crystal orientation factors of the (010)
The structural development of PBT fibers was analyzed using in situ X-ray diffraction and fiber temperature measurements with a time resolution of 0.3 ms
was drawn to a draw ratio of 5 through laser heating
The fiber temperature sharply increased from 50 to 100 °C at the necking point
An oriented β-crystal was formed just after necking
but no quasi-smectic fibrillar structure was observed prior to crystallization
the fiber temperature increased from 100 to 160 °C
orientation and d-spacing (in particular that of the a-axis direction) of the β-crystal increased as the elapsed time increased
the d-spacing of the a-axis direction decreased as the elapsed time increased
the oriented β-crystal transformed back into the oriented α-phase crystal when the drawing tension was released
The crystal structure of poly(tetramethylene terephthalate)
Hysteresis of the stress-induced crystalline phase transition in poly(butylene terephthalate)
Solid-state transition of poly(butylene terephthalate) induced by mechanical deformation
The existence of a stable β form in oriented poly(butylene terephthalate)
A comparison of published crystalline structures of poly(tetramethylene terephthalate)
Structures of two crystalline forms of poly(butylene terephthalate) and reversible transition between them by mechanical deformation
Chain conformation of poly(tetramethylene terephthalate) and its change with strain
Initial stage of fiber structure development in the continuous drawing of poly(ethylene terephthalate)
Molecular weight dependence of fiber structure development in the laser drawing of poly(ethylene terephthalate) fibers
Initial structure development in the CO2 laser heated drawing of poly(trimethylene terephthalate) fiber
Mesophase structure discovered through in-situ X-ray measurement in drawing process of poly(ethylene 2,6-naphthalene dicarboxylate) fiber
Development of a fiber structure in poly(vinylidene fluoride) by a CO2 laser-heated drawing process
In-situ analysis of fiber structure development for isotactic polypropylene
Microsecond Analysis of quasi-smectic fibrillar structure in the continuous fiber drawing of poly(ethylene terephthalate)
Direct measurement of fiber temperature in the continuous drawing process of PET fiber heated by CO2 laser radiation
The mechanical properties and structure of poly(m-methylene terephthalate) fibers
Formation of polymorphic structure and its influences on properties in uniaxially stretched polybutylene terephthalate films
Crystallization of poly(butylene terephthalate) from the glass
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The synchrotron radiation experiments were performed at the BL40B2 SPring-8 facility with the approval of the Japan Synchrotron Radiation Research Institute (JASRI) (proposal no
This research was supported by grant-in-aid no
18550191 from the Japan Society for the Promotion of Science
Textile &amp; Consumer Goods Examination Division
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<a href="/fashion-shows/fall-2016-ready-to-wear">FALL 2016 READY-TO-WEAR</a>
Catalysis is like a magic stone," says Professor Atsushi Urakawa
is a substance that suddenly makes an unruly chemical reaction possible without itself being converted
and that impression is reinforced by the involvement of exotic metals such as platinum
The decline of fossil raw materials has put the chemical industry under pressure to develop new processes for the production of plastics
New processes require other catalysts that are also less dependent on rare metals
It is Urakawa's mission to significantly shorten the lead time from laboratory to industry
"Given the speed at which the climate is changing
20-30 years of lead time is no longer an option
We cannot afford to wait that long to make our key chemicals more sustainable." This calls for labs where catalysis is developed under industrial pressure and temperature
"A higher temperature means more aggressive collisions between molecules
and high pressure means a higher chance of hitting them." His hands collide as an illustration
"This is the only way to achieve high conversions."
We cannot afford to wait that long to make our key chemicals more sustainable
Working pressures of up to 500 bar require a special building
HappelCorelissenVerhoeven architects designed the Industrial Catalysis Lab specially for work with extreme pressures
Experiments take place in one of the eight cells with 50 cm thick walls of extra reinforced concrete
The rooms are explosion-proof; overpressure is discharged through a special hatch in the roof
The experiment is controlled from outside the cell by a self-designed control system
an experiment is running in which hydrogen and CO₂ are converted to methanol and water
The catalyst is located in a small space between two blocks as big as a brick
the tubes are only a few millimetres in diameter
as is usual in the pharmaceutical industry
While the solution is stirred in the reactor
a Raman spectrometer records surface structures and an infrared spectrometer records molecular vibrations
"You can see the chemicals forming on the surface," Urakawa explains
is in his conception made up of ordinary metals such as copper
Composed in alloys or nanostructures and tested at industrial temperatures and pressures
Urakawa is convinced that the 'magic' of the catalyst is ultimately nothing more than the right combination of materials and conditions
Discovering these is the mission of this small black laboratory at the southwest corner of the campus
<a href="/en/crisismanagement/riskmanagement">Crisis Management</a>
Clarifying the disproportionate economic effect of the pandemic on the poor in Japan
The COVID-19 pandemic has wreaked havoc on society
Armed with recent data from the Japanese government
researchers are now getting new insight into how the pandemic has affected the economic situation of households in Japan
<a href="https://hyoka.ofc.kyushu-u.ac.jp/search/details/K003293/english.html" target="_blank">Professor Kunio Urakawa</a> of Kyushu University’s <a href="https://www.econ.kyushu-u.ac.jp/english/index/" target="_blank">Faculty of Economics</a> has been sifting through the data to get a clearer picture of how COVID-19’s economic impact in Japan has been felt by groups with different income levels
Urakawa about the major messages pertaining to economic inequality and tax and social security policies that he found in the data
Urakawa found when comparing the Family Income and Expenditure Survey data for 2019 and 2020
corresponding to before and after the onset of the pandemic
is that many of the rich in Japan experienced increased income while spending less
the poor have seen their income decrease and have made relatively larger cuts in spending on food and medicine
Breaking down the income data into ten tiers
Urakawa found that the top two income groups
which had average annual incomes in 2020 of 13.27 million yen and 8.42 million yen
exhibited increases in average household income by more than one percent in this period
the lowest 40% of incomes decreased by an even greater magnitude
the data shows that people who live in single-person households experienced on average a loss in annual income
As the number of single-person households has skyrocketed in the last two decades
accounting for almost two in five people—38% of the population—in 2020
usually work by transferring income from the rich to the poor
The rich generally bear a greater burden in such programs through higher taxes and social security payments
When a government’s policies for income redistribution are effective
income after deducting for taxes and social security—will show less economic disparity than household income before these deductions
Urakawa compared household income before and after deducting for taxes and social security between 2019 and 2020
he found almost the same magnitude of economic disparity both before and after deduction
“COVID-19 highlighted the underlying problem of Japan’s income redistribution programs,” says Urakawa
“People that were hit worst economically by COVID were the poor
many of whom live in single-person households with irregular jobs
but Japan’s income redistribution scheme is not built for them.”
Japanese tax and social security systems mainly reward married salarymen/women with regular jobs and dependents
There is an upper limit to the burden of taxes and social insurance premiums
which makes the percentage of income going to those payments significantly lower for married workers with regular jobs with dependents
this demographic is becoming an “endangered species,” so-to-speak
where both partners often have to work to make ends meet and marriage has long been on the decline
for the first time in Japan’s recorded history
In the worst-case scenario, people have seen their incomes drop during the pandemic as the result of a loss of employment. While many expect the safety net of unemployment insurance to lessen the pain, <a href="https://www.stat.go.jp/data/roudou/rireki/4hanki/dt/pdf/2021_3.pdf?noicon" target="_blank">recent data</a> shows that is not the case for a significant portion of the jobless population
For the period from July to September 2021
more than three in four of the 2.1 million jobless people in Japan were left outside the unemployment compensation scheme
and 680,000 people were reported as suffering from a prolonged state of joblessness lasting over a year
While half of the jobless population qualified for unemployment benefits in the 1980s
less than 30% of the jobless today qualify for the job-loss compensation scheme
This is because the existing job-loss safety net only applies to people who work more than 20 hours per week or who work on contracts that last more than 31 days
have been getting scarcer in the last two decades
“Without revising tax and social security schemes and amending labor laws
who are suffering greatly due to the widened economic disparity brought by COVID-19
is most likely to suffer longer and greater,” concludes Prof
For more discussion, go to: “<a href="https://www.japanpolicyforum.jp/economy/pt2022011114112611812.html" target="_blank">Widening income inequality during COVID-19: Differing impact across income brackets,</a>” Kunio Urakawa, Discuss Japan, Jan. 11, 2022. (Also available in <a href="https://cn.japanpolicyforum.jp/economy/pt202201111423488789.html" target="_blank">Chinese</a>.)
九州大学Kyushu University744 Motooka Nishi-ku Fukuoka 819-0395
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once hunted bears and fished for salmon in the wild forests of the country’s far north
but today they are an ethnic minority fighting for their cultural survival
the Ainu suffered through an era of forced assimilation that took a heavy toll on their customs
leaving them a disadvantaged minority in modern Japan
As the group keeps struggling to redress past wrongs and revive its rapidly fading traditions
its community leaders say they hope for support from Japan’s new center-left government
The electoral seat of Prime Minister Yukio Hatoyama is on Hokkaido island
which once stretched from northern Honshu island to the Kuril and Sakhalin islands now ruled by Russia
said he wants a society free of discrimination and prejudice
including by “respecting the history and culture of the Ainu people.”
His Democratic Party of Japan has promised a kinder
gentler society after more than half a century of almost unbroken conservative rule
and the prime minister often speaks of his vision of a society shaped by “fraternity.”
The Ainu hope the new spirit of brotherhood will also apply to them as they continue to struggle with higher incidences of unemployment and poverty than the rest of Japan
I believe that great possibilities are opening up now that
the Democratic Party of Japan is about to launch a new era,” Haruzo Urakawa
a former chairman of the Tokyo Ainu Association
chairman of the Ainu Association of Hokkaido
who urged the incoming government to establish a new Ainu law and boost measures to support his people
The Ainu were only recognized in June last year as Japan’s Aborigines
in a resolution passed months before Japan hosted a summit of world leaders
Japan signed up in 2007 to the UN Declaration on the Right of Indigenous Peoples
but still lacks a national law to formally recognize the Ainu
the most urgent issue for us is the establishment
of specific legislation at the national level,” Kato said
Although the content of such a law has not taken shape yet
Ainu have in the past called for greater self-determination
school texts in their native language and a formal apology for past wrongs
but is uncertain because many have integrated with mainstream society and some have hidden their cultural roots
Some anthropologists believe the Ainu once lived across Japan’s four major islands
but were pushed northward by later waves of migration from mainland Asia
Fairer-skinned and more hirsute than most Japanese
the Ainu traditionally observed an animist faith with a belief that God exists in every creation — trees
while women adorned themselves with facial tattoos which they acquired before they reached the age of marriage
Ainu clothes were robes spun from tree bark and decorated with geometric designs
Ethnic Japanese gradually settled Hokkaido and in 1899 enacted the Hokkaido Former Aborigines Protection Act
under which the Ainu were forced to give up their land
The act was repealed only in 1997 and replaced by legislation calling for “respect for the dignity of the Ainu people.”
stopped short of recognizing the Ainu as Aborigines or
setting up autonomous areas along the lines of Native American reservations in the US
This freeware package showcases a detailed SunExpress repaint applied to a high-fidelity Boeing 737-700 base model
specifically crafted for Microsoft Flight Simulator 2004
The original aircraft model by Tsutomu Urakawa has been meticulously repainted by Jan Hebert to portray authentic airline branding
making it a valuable add-on for enthusiasts seeking a realistic narrow-body jet experience
The external finish reflects the actual SunExpress design
from the winglets to the undercarriage fairings
has been aligned to replicate the real-world counterpart as closely as possible
This careful attention highlights rivet panels
and engine inlets to enhance the immersive atmosphere during ramp operations and close-up inspections
Widely recognized for reliable performance on short to medium routes
this variant of the 737 family serves countless airlines worldwide
an operator known for leisure routes and holiday destinations
The -700’s balanced wing design and efficient engines contribute to shorter takeoff runs and cost-effective operations
reflecting its versatility in real-world commercial service
All necessary components come in a single freeware package
By keeping the original flight dynamics intact
this release maintains consistent handling and navigation behavior
ensuring familiarity for those accustomed to other Boeing airframes
This enhanced repaint is optimized for users who prefer to fly with Microsoft Flight Simulator 2004
but it retains the same visual fidelity across a variety of system configurations
Screenshot of SunExpress Boeing 737-700 on the ground
The archive ai737sun.zip has 13 files and directories contained within it
A woman arrested in Osaka on Wednesday on suspicion of defacing traffic signs with artsy
humorous stickers has admitted to vandalism
"I did it as a form of artistic expression but now I deeply regret it," police quoted 43-year-old Mami Urakawa as saying.googletag.cmd.push(function() { googletag.display('div-gpt-ad-1499653692894-0'); });
her photo appeared on Abraham's social media accounts
A picturesque Kumamoto destination blossoming into a hub for wellness and relaxation
Its fortuitous geographical position means it can be reached from Fukuoka
Oita and Nagasaki prefectures — as well as Kumamoto City — in under two hours by car or train
Tamana City is a historic hot spring town blessed with natural resources from the mountains
Spend a weekend feasting on an abundance of locally sourced delicacies and partaking in ancient spiritual practices to refresh both the mind and the body
Start your exploration of Tamana by strolling along Takase Urakawa
a river that runs parallel to the preserved historic district of Takase Shopping Street
Follow this with a soak in one of the city’s soothing hot springs and a view of the setting sun over the Ariake Sea
Urakawa River was for many years an important thoroughfare for rice trade with nearby regions and even internationally
The original waterway has been replaced by roads and rail tracks
but remnants of its former glory like the narrow stone bridges used to carry rice and products between boats and rice stores remain
Walk along the picturesque riverfront in late May to early June to witness a 700-meter-long stretch of Japanese irises dye the area in various hues of purple
From Takase Urakawa, head to Takase Shopping Street to immerse yourself in the city’s traditional culture and to take a tea break. <a href="http://kikusuido.jp" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Kikusuido Wagashi</a> opened in 1947 and has been lovingly serving locals a variety of seasonal Japanese and Western-style confectionery
Buy some sweets and make use of the shop’s outdoor terrace area
Further down Takase Shopping Street lies <a href="http://tamana.mypl.net/shop/00000356494/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Araki Naohei Shoten</a>
a delightfully retro vinegar shop that first opened in 1870
Find handmade seasonal fruit vinegars with rare flavors like loquat
Most of the fruits are sourced locally from the owner’s own or neighboring gardens
making it an exceptionally sustainable practice
Sip a diluted cup of it before a meal to aid digestion
with reasonably priced tastings for the sake-curious
Tamana is blessed with two famous hot spring locations: Tamana Onsen and Oama Onsen
Tamana Onsen dates back 1,300 years and is purported to be rich in properties that encourage smooth skin
featured in Natsume Soseki’s novel Kusamakura
This enchanting onsen area faces the Ariake Sea and Nagasaki’s Shimabara Peninsula
pop by Ryuganji Park’s Shirasagi Ashiyu public foot bath
It’s open 24 hours a day and is completely free
visit one of the many inns open to day-trippers to relieve yourself of any aches and pains
Make your way to the coast to take in the view of the Ariake Sea as the sun submerges beyond the horizon
Watch as the sky evolves into a palette of orange
while the sound of waves lapping against the beach serves as a soothing soundtrack
Immerse yourself in both Tamana and your inner self by visiting a temple that encourages self-reflection by both spiritual and secular means
before indulging in more of Tamana’s fine culinary delights
Start the morning with a unique spiritual experience at the Kyushu head temple of the Shingon-Risshu sect, <a href="http://www.okunoin-ren.jp/index.php" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Rengein Tanjoji Okunoin</a>
From a towering five-storied pagoda and a giant Buddha statue to the world’s largest temple bell
this inner temple precinct boasts a treasure trove of architectural marvels
Visitors can partake in zazen meditation as well as other spiritual exercises here
Those with a preference for a more secular and introspective approach can attend a mini Naikan session instead
Naikan therapy is a structured self-reflection technique developed by Ishin Yoshimoto in the 1940s that is said to be an effective form of self-guided therapy
Enjoy lunch with a view at <a href="http://hananoyakata.akaruinouson.co.jp" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Hanano Yakata</a>
This hilltop café grows most of its own vegetables and offers hearty lunch sets on weekdays
Enjoy a meal inside the charming main area or the greenhouse-cum-garden space while surrounded by a veritable forest of plants
Souvenir seekers will find handcrafted items and seasonal decorations with a twist
The <a href="http://mizumotoorangegarden.com" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Mizumoto Orange Garden</a> has been in business since the Meiji Period (1868-1912) and grows about a dozen varieties of organically cultivated citrus fruits
It offers both all-you-can-eat mikan picking experiences
as well as the opportunity to harvest enough fruit to fill a large paper bag that you can take home with you
(Good to know: you can check in your bag of mikan at the airport.) The orchard also serves freshly hand pressed mikan juice and provides barbecue sets in the summer
For more about what Tamana has to offer, visit the <a href="https://www.city.tamana.lg.jp/q/list/395.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener">city&#8217;s official website</a>
This repaint package brings the distinctive KLM Boeing 737-800 markings into Microsoft Flight Simulator 2004
delivering expertly rendered textures for the well-known narrow-body jet
The aircraft model associated with this repaint was originally created by Tsutomu Urakawa
and the livery was produced by Arjen ter Avest
The base package (737ATN.ZIP or a comparable file) is required and can be retrieved from the Fly Away Simulation file library
The livery captures KLM’s signature design
including its trademark blue fuselage and elegant tail detailing
Each section of the exterior showcases sharply defined lines
You will notice the proper emblem placement around the forward fuselage
coupled with authentic engine cowling insignia for a realistic look on the virtual ramp
This aircraft repaint mirrors the real-world Boeing 737-800 employed by KLM for short and medium-haul routes across Europe
Operators and enthusiasts often favor the 737-800 thanks to its reliable aerodynamic profile and efficient performance characteristics
valuable when simulating complex flight conditions
you can explore procedures such as quick turnarounds or gate operations that emphasize the aircraft’s operational strengths
Screenshot highlighting the aircraft's detailed exterior textures while parked at the gate
The included textures revolve around precise color matching
and rivet effects that closely follow the actual KLM design elements
The repaint emphasizes subtle weathering to reflect an active fleet aircraft
providing immersion during preflight walkarounds
dynamic shading accents the fuselage curvature and engine inlets
This repaint set provides a faithful representation of a busy short-haul jetliner
capturing every detail of KLM’s Boeing 737-800
The textures by Arjen ter Avest complement Tsutomu Urakawa’s original model well
resulting in an immersive experience worthy of any serious simulator enthusiast
The archive tu738kl2.zip has 5 files and directories contained within it
This add-on mentions the following files below in its description
It may be dependent on these files in order to function properly
 It's possible that this is a repaint and the dependency below is the base package
You may also need to download the following files:
The archive tarom73.zip has 17 files and directories contained within it
<a href="//mainichi.jp/articles/20230922/k00/00m/040/296000c">Japanese version</a>
Manoj Coppens obtained his MSc in Chemical Engineering at TU Delft in 2023
Urakawa’s group on the NGK ceramic membrane reactor project and the electrochemical reduction to NO project
titled ‘Catalysis Engineering of Integrated Carbon Dioxide Capture and Conversion Processes’
<a href="https://map.tudelftcampus.nl/poi/applied-sciences-tnw/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer">Contact and accessibility</a><a href="https://map.tudelftcampus.nl/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer">Map and Buildings</a>
This lodging facility has a Derby horse/winning ticket concept room
so I was able to get a room while traveling in Hokkaido
a village where you can interact with horses and nature 
 The first thing I saw was the gate stables
The main accommodation is built over there
 A statue of a child and Tosho Boy near the gate stables
and gloves are said to have been worn by visitors
and in 1976 he won the Satsuki Sho and the Arima Kinen
In addition to being called 'Tenma' because of his run
he was also called 'help boy' by breeders because of the high conception rate after entering the stallion and many horses that won
 The AERU map looks like this. The Welcome Center and Yushun Lodge are the main lodging facilities. There are many other facilities as well. <a href="https://i.gzn.jp/img/2023/04/10/urakawa-aeru-winning-ticket-room/a02.jpg" target="_blank"></a> Arrived at the welcome center
 The room key had a key holder imitating a horse&#39;s head
 This is the 'winning ticket room' where you stay
there is a bulletin board showing the order of arrival when the winning ticket wins the Derby
Winning Ticket defeated Biwahayahide and Narita Taishin
and gave jockey Masato Shibata his first win in his 19th challenge
 A winning ticket with a derby lei on the wall next to the bed
 The other side of the bed looks something like this
the picture of the winning ticket is decorated
The size of the room is quite large as it is a large twin room
and it is easy to open the suitcase fully and change the contents
 Small plastic bottles can fit in the refrigerator
 Looking back at the entrance side of the room
and the door on the right is the washroom and toilet
 Air conditioning can be adjusted from the side table of the bed
but heating and cooling are centrally controlled throughout the building
 I didn&#39;t use the bath in the room because there is 
so I was able to receive Chikezo goods that are not for sale
 A memorial space is set up in the welcome center
where many items of memories of the horses who spent their time at AERU are displayed
 There was also a winning ticket for Uma Musume
 Other meritorious horses that have come to AERU include Nippo Teio
who won three G1 races in the mile to middle distance races and lost 113 straight times
who won three consecutive GIII races when he was 3 years old but was not blessed with a win after that
who was active in the dirt route such as winning the Japan Cup dirt
 There was also Uma Musume&#39;s Teimu Opera Oh
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