The aims of this study were to show the existence of individual differences in the distribution of sperm acrosome-associated 1 (SPACA1) among male patients of infertile couples and to examine their possible impact on the outcomes of conventional in vitro fertilization (IVF). The spermatozoa were collected from male patients of infertile couples, washed by centrifugation, collected by the swim-up method, and then used for clinical treatments of conventional IVF. The surplus sperm samples were fixed and stained with an anti-SPACA1 polyclonal antibody for the immunocytochemistry. In the clinical IVF treatments, fertilization rates and blastocyst development rates were evaluated. The immunocytochemical observations revealed that SPACA1 were localized definitely in the acrosomal equatorial segment and variedly in the acrosomal principal segment. Specifically, the detection patterns of SPACA1 in the acrosomal principal segment could be classified into three categories: (A) strong, (B) intermediate or faint, and (C) almost no immunofluorescence. The SPACA1 indexes were largely different among male patients with the wide range from 13 to 199 points. The SPACA1 indexes were significantly correlated with developmental rates of embryos to blastocysts (r = 0.829, P = 0.00162), although they were barely associated with fertilization rates at 19 h after insemination (r = 0.289, P = 0.389). These results suggest that the distribution of SPACA1 in sperm affects the outcomes of conventional IVF. In conclusion, this study provides initial data to promote large-scale clinical investigation to demonstrate that the SPACA1 indexes are valid as molecular biomarkers that can predict the effectiveness of conventional IVF of infertile couples.

It is now firmly established that a small anisotropy of the galactic cosmic rays exists, observable from Earth as a variation of intensity in sidereal time. The problem now is to determine more clearly the characteristics of the anisotropy and, in particular, its detailed spatial structure and how it depends upon the energy and composition of the cosmic rays. This is a very difficult task and, in the final analysis, may not be fully achievable from Earth-based observations. The purpose of the present paper is to describe briefly an installation now operating in Tasmania to provide further information on the spatial structure of the anisotropy.

In the previous work, it is reported that the Spin-Seebeck effect (SSE), which refer to the generation of a spin current from a temperature gradient, can be enhanced by Fe interface treatment. Here, we investigated the Fe thickness (d Fe ) dependency of spin-Seebeck voltage (V SSE ) and mixing conductance (g r ) in Pt/Fe/Bi:YIG/SGGG system. As a result, magnitude of V SSE had a peak at d Fe ≓ 1 ML (monolayer , ≓ 0.3 mm), and also increase of g r was saturated at this point. It suggests that V SSE increase with increasing g r when d Fe is smaller than 1.0 ML. For the case in which d Fe is larger than 1.0ML, however, V SSE decreases due to a spin current decay in Fe layer with a constant g r . These experimental results are consistent with previous theoretical works.

Recently, the issue of sustainable resource management has been increasingly recognized.Economic growth of human activity is associated with a rapid rise in the use of resourcesin our economy, and society has a potential environmental impact. The UNEP InternationalResource Panel (IRP) pointed out the importance of decoupling resource use and negativeenvironmental impacts from economic activity (UNEP IRP 2011). In order tooptimize the material cycles and increase resource efficiency, material flow analysis(MFA) is a powerful tool to understand the resource consumption and material cycle in thenational economy. In this study, we present the results of global material flow analysisof nickel, which is one of the important resources for reducing energy use andCO2 emission inour society, and discuss the importance and possibility of controlling its resourcelogistics. This study also introduces the challenge of identifying the land-use changes innickel mining sites by a remote-sensing technique, and knowledge to increase the resourceefficiency in metal recycling based on the metallurgical thermodynamic approach. Theresults indicated the importance of recovery of nickel in recycling policies forend-of-life (EoL) vehicles and constructions. Improvement in EoL sorting technologies andimplementation of designs for recycling/disassembly at the manufacturing phase are needed.Possible solutions include development of sorting processes for steel scrap andintroduction of easier methods for identifying the composition of secondary resources.Recovery of steel scrap with a high alloy content will reduce primary inputs of alloyingelements and contribute to more efficient resource use.

We present the discovery of out-flow like plasma emissions with the Suzaku and ASCA data. Those plasmas have a size of ∼150 pc. Remarkably, the southern plasma is in a recombination dominant phase, which is not predicted by standard shock heating. A plausible scenario is either photoionization due to strong jet-like X-rays from Sgr A* or rapid cooling due to adiabatic expansion of a blowout plasma from the Galactic center about 105 years ago.

We describe the current, 9-spacecraft Interplanetary Network (IPN). The IPN detects about325 gamma-ray bursts per year, of which about 100 are not localized by any other missions.We give some examples of how the data, which are public, can be utilized.

This study determined the prevalence and antimicrobial susceptibility of Salmonella isolated from broiler flocks in Japan. Caecal dropping samples were collected from 288 broiler flocks between November 2007 and February 2010. Salmonella was prevalent in 248 (86·1%) broiler flocks. The top three serovars were S. Infantis, S. Manhattan and S. Schwarzengrund. S. Infantis was found in all regions tested in this study. However, S. Manhattan and S. Schwarzengrund were frequently found only in the western part of Japan. High antimicrobial resistance rates were observed against oxytetracycline (90·2%), dihydrostreptomycin (86·7%) and ampicillin (36·5%), and 258 (90·5%) of 285 isolates were resistant to two or more antimicrobial agents. Interestingly, 26·3% of isolates were resistant to ceftiofur, especially 38·1% of S. Infantis isolates, although its use in broilers has not been approved in Japan. This study showed that Salmonella is highly prevalent (86·1%) in Japanese broiler flocks, that 90·5% of Salmonella isolates were multidrug-resistant, and that S. Infantis frequently exhibited resistance to cephalosporin antimicrobial agents.

In this study, aluminized, boronized, chromized and siliconized gray cast iron plate specimens were prepared, and their microstructures and tribological properties were investigated. The surfaces of the aluminized, boronized, chromized and siliconized specimens mainly consisted of FeAl, Fe2B, (Cr, Fe)23C6 and FeSi phases, respectively. Also, the surface of the boronized specimen exhibited the highest microvickers hardness of all the specimens. The aluminized, boronized and chromized specimens exhibited friction coefficients as low as the non-coated specimens when sliding against AISI 52100 steel ball specimens in poly-alpha-olefin. In addition, the boronized and chromized specimens exhibited much higher wear resistance than the non-coated specimens.

Resonant elastic X-ray scattering (RXS) at the erbium absorption edge was investigated in the orbital-ordered compound ErVO3. An RXS signal resonating near the Er L3-edge was clearly observed at (1 0 0). Using this signal, we studied the relation between the anisotropy of the Er 5d orbital and the V 3d orbital ordering because the covalency between the Er 5d and V 3d orbitals is expected to stabilize the C-type orbital ordering of the V 3d electrons.

The orbital ordering in perovskite-type vanadium oxides, RVO3 (R: rare earth), has been investigated by resonant X-ray scattering (RXS) near the V K-edge energy. The G-type orbital order, C-type orbital order and orbital disorder phases are elucidated on the basis of the azimuthal-angle and polarization dependence of the RXS signal reflecting the orbital ordering.

Plasmas with long life times (∼20 ns) are generated in a cavity target by intense CO2 laser pulses (2 × 1014W/cm2). The plasma life depends on the configuration of irradiation and target, which may infer thermal conduction inhibition by the laser-generated magnetic field. The experimental results agree with those of computer simulations with magnetic inhibition of thermal conduction.