Several relational program logics have been introduced for integrating reasoning about relational properties of programs and measurement of quantitative difference between computational effects. Toward a general framework for such logics, in this paper, we formalize the concept of quantitative difference between computational effects as divergences on monads, then develop a relational program logic called approximate computational relational logic (acRL for short). It supports generic computational effects and divergences on them. The semantics of the acRL is given by graded strong relational liftings constructed from divergences on monads. We derive two instantiations of the acRL: (1) for the verification of various kinds of differential privacy of higher-order functional probabilistic programs and (2) the other for measuring difference of distributions of cost between higher-order functional probabilistic programs with a cost counting operator.

Partial sequences of the DNA polymerase delta (pold) gene from Taenia saginata-like adult worms were sequenced. Phylogenetic analysis revealed that pold gene sequences were clearly divided into two clades, differing from each other in five to seven nucleotides. There is little doubt that T. saginata and Taenia asiatica were once separated into two distinct taxa as has been concluded in previous studies. On the other hand, most of the adult worms, which were identified as T. asiatica using mitochondrial DNA, were homozygous for an allele that originated from the allele of T. saginata via single nucleotide substitution. These results indicate that most of the adult worms, which had been called T. asiatica, are not actually ‘pure T. asiatica’ but instead originated from the hybridization of ‘pure T. saginata’ and ‘pure T. asiatica’.

Recently, the ability of polyphenols to reduce the risk of dementia and Alzheimer's disease (AD) has attracted a great deal of interest. In the present study, we investigated the attenuating effects of oligomerised lychee fruit-derived polyphenol (OLFP, also called Oligonol) on early cognitive impairment. Male senescence-accelerated mouse prone 8 (SAMP8) mice (4 months old) were given OLFP (100 mg/kg per d) for 2 months, and then conditioned fear memory testing was conducted. Contextual fear memory, which is considered hippocampus-dependent memory, was significantly impaired in SAMP8 mice compared with non-senescence-accelerated mice. OLFP attenuated cognitive impairment in SAMP8 mice. Moreover, the results of real-time PCR analysis that followed DNA array analysis in the hippocampus revealed that, compared with SAMP8 mice, the mRNA expression of Wolfram syndrome 1 (Wfs1) was significantly higher in SAMP8 mice administered with OLFP. Wfs1 reportedly helps to protect against endoplasmic reticulum (ER) stress, which is thought to be one of the causes for AD. The expression of Wfs1 was significantly up-regulated in NG108-15 neuronal cells by the treatment with OLFP, and the up-regulation was inhibited by the treatment of the cells with a c-Jun N-terminal kinase-specific inhibitor rather than with an extracellular signal-regulated kinase inhibitor. Moreover, OLFP significantly attenuated the tunicamycin-induced expression of the ER stress marker BiP (immunoglobulin heavy chain-binding protein) in the cells. These results suggest that OLFP has an attenuating effect on early cognitive impairment in SAMP8 mice, and diminishes ER stress in neuronal cells.

Oral intake of Lactobacillus pentosus strain b240 (b240) has been shown to enhance the secretion of salivary secretory IgA in elderly adults. However, its clinical benefits remain to be determined. We tested the hypothesis that b240 exerts a protective effect against the common cold in elderly adults. The design of the present study was a randomised, double-blind, placebo-controlled trial (RCT) with parallel three-group comparison. For this purpose, 300 eligible elderly adults were randomly allocated to one of three groups, namely a placebo, low-dose or high-dose b240 group. Participants in the low-dose and high-dose b240 groups were given tablets containing 2 × 109 or 2 × 1010 cells, respectively, of heat-killed b240, while those in the placebo group were given tablets without b240. Each group consumed their respective tablets once daily for 20 weeks. The common cold was assessed on the basis of a diary. Change in quality of life was evaluated using the SF-36®. Of the total participants, 280 completed the 20-week RCT. The accumulated incidence rate of the common cold was 47·3, 34·8 and 29·0 % for the placebo, low-dose b240 and high-dose b240 groups, respectively (P for trend = 0·012). Lower incidence rates were consistently observed throughout the experimental period in the b240 groups (log-rank test, P= 0·034). General health perception, as determined by the SF-36®, dose-dependently increased in the b240 groups (P for trend = 0·016). In conclusion, oral intake of b240 significantly reduced the incidence rate of the common cold in elderly adults, indicating that b240 might be useful in improving resistance against infection through mucosal immunity.

We investigated the reduction of TiO2 in the presence of Ni by nonequilibrium hydrogen gas, including low-temperature hydrogen plasma at 800 °C and supercooled monatomic hydrogen at 1000 °C. TiO2 was reduced to Ti2O3, which is not in equilibrium phase, by low-temperature hydrogen plasma. The results of x-ray diffraction and energy dispersive x-ray analysis in experiments at 1000 °C indicate that the thermodynamical reduction potential of supercooled monatomic hydrogen is almost the same as atmospheric hydrogen gas. However, the wide Ti3O5 layer formed only in the case of the reduction at 1000 °C by supercooled monatomic hydrogen. With these experimental facts, we speculate that the reduction mechanism by nonequilibrium hydrogen consists of two steps; the releasing energy process and the relaxation process. We can explain the difference of reduction products by nonequilibrium hydrogen gas on the assumption of the rate of the relaxation process between 800 and 1000 °C.

In the first part of this paper the nonlinear development of the most unstable mode is numerically studied for a bounded shear layer with a hyperbolic-tangent profile. It is found that the vortex nutation, discovered by Zabusky & Deem (1971) for a jet profile, is a manifestation of strongly coupled oscillations in the vortex amplitude and the phase. In the second part, with the aid of the numerical result we devote ourselves to deriving coupled nonlinear equations that describe the amplitude oscillation, the vortex nutation and the momentum transport. The approximate oscillatory solution for the vortex amplitude and phase in the nonlinear stage is compared with the numerical solution and agreement is found.

We discuss origin of ferromagnetism in dilute magnetic semiconductors (DMS) and propose accurate calculation method for Curie temperature from first-principles. For more realistic materials design, we simulate inhomogeneous impurity distribution due to the spinodal decomposition in DMS from first-principles. Combining these techniques, we discuss super-paramagnetism and blocking phenomena in DMS and propose fabrication method of DMS with high blocking temperature.

We have studied the biological properties of nanocrystalline silicon (nc-Si) particles after injection at various places in a mouse. The nc-Si particles with a size of 2.5 nm and a concentration of 1.3 mg/ml were dispersed in a normal saline solution (NSS). The NSS dispersible nc-Si particles were safely injected into the mouse. When the nc-Si particles in the NSS were directly injected into the subcutaneous vein and the coronary artery of the heart by syringe, the condition of bloodstream at each place was confirmed by the red luminescence (peak wavelength at 720 nm) from the nc-Si particles under the ultraviolet (UV) light-irradiation. Moreover, the nc-Si particles in the NSS, which were injected into the vein in the sole, smoothly flowed to the small intestine, and the smooth fluidity of nc-Si particles was also observed for the condition of the peristalsis of the small intestine. The nc-Si particles in the small intestine emitted red light during peristalsis under the UV light-irradiation. The red luminescence at each place was very bright and could be clearly seen with the naked eye. These phenomenons were achieved by the utilization of the harmless material, the formation of nc-Si particles with the single-order-size and the realization of the stable surface modification to the nc-Si particles.

Osteopontin (OPN) is an acidic phosphorylated glycoprotein found in many tissues and physiological fluids. Bovine OPN is a mature protein comprising 262 amino acids with a calculated molecular weight of 29 kDa. However, SDS-PAGE analysis reveals that the protein isolated from milk migrates to a molecular mass of 60 kDa (Sørensen & Petersen, 1993; Bayless et al. 1997). Bovine milk OPN is phosphorylated at 27 serine residues and one threonine residue (Sorensen et al. 1995); three O-glycosylated threonines were also identified, but no asparagine residues were glycosylated in spite of the presence of three putative N-glycosylation sites. In contrast, eight phosphates are recognized in bovine bone OPN (Salih et al. 1996), and 12 phosphoserines and one phosphothreonine are proposed in addition to five O-linked oligosaccharides and at most one N-linked oligosaccharide in the case of rat bone OPN (Prince et al. 1987). Thus, the possibility of tissue or species-specific differences in post-translational modification has been discussed.

We have proposed an advanced method for formation of semiconductor thin films at substrates temperatures below 100K. We have synthesized amorphous silicon (a-Si:H) and microcrystalline silicon (μc-Si:H) films using low-energy electron-beam-induced-chemical vapor deposition (EBICVD) onto cooled substrates which adsorb source gases (SiH4 or Si2H6) at cryogenic temperature. The temperature dependence on growth rate of the films, hydrogen content and optical constants were investigated. The μc-Si:H could be formed at 40–45 K on SiO2 using He-discharged-EBICVD with SiH4. The crystallinity of silicon was evaluated by Raman scattering spectroscopy and X-ray diffraction.

To understand the evolutionary history of Erysiphaceae tribe Cystotheceae, phylogentic trees were constructed from the nucleotide sequences of the ribosomal DNA internal transcribed spacer of 28 taxa of the fungal ingroup and two outgroup taxa. The first split of the ingroup taxa occurred between a clade composed of the genus Cystotheca and a clade composed of the genera Podosphaera and Sphaerotheca. Podosphaera and Sphaerotheca did not separate into clades. Instead, Podosphaera species parasitic to Prunus and Sphaerotheca section Magnicellulatae grouped together, with the remaining Podosphaera species and Sphaerotheca section Sphaerotheca forming another subclade. Since the first splits were shared by Podosphaera species in both subclades, it was assumed the ancestral features of both subclades were Podosphaera-like and the genus Sphaerotheca derived from a Podosphaera-like ancestral taxon on at least two independent occasions. The results of this study suggest that ancestral fungi of the tribe Cystotheceae were originally arbor-parasitic, and transition from arbor-parasitism to herb-parasitism may have occurred at least twice independently, accompanied by a morphological change of appendages. The mycelioid appendage of the genus Sphaerotheca and other herb-parasitic genera seems to have evolved convergently at multiple times as an adaptation to herb-parasitism.

The dynamical development of collisionless reconnection and the consequent energy-conversion process in the presence of an external driving flow are investigated by means of a full particle simulation. Magnetic reconnection develops in two steps in accordance with the formation of ion and electron current layers. In the early phase magnetic reconnection is controlled by an ion kinetic effect, while an electron kinetic effect becomes dominant in the late phase. There exist two mechanisms associated with the particle kinetic effects, that break the frozen-in condition of magnetic field and lead to magnetic reconnection in a collisionless plasma, namely a particle inertia effect and a particle thermal orbit effect. It is found that the dominant triggering mechanism in the late phase changes from an electron thermal orbit effect to an electron inertia effect as the longitudinal magnetic field increases. Electron acceleration and heating take place in the reconnection area under the influence of the reconnection electric field, while the energy conversion takes place from electrons to ions through the action of an electrostatic field excited downstream. As a result, the average ion temperature becomes about 1.5 times the average electron temperature.

We have developed a 2½-dimensional open boundary particle simulation model and have studied the current-driven electrostatic ion-cyclotron instability and related d.c. potential difference. Fresh streaming electrons are injected smoothly from the boundaries at each time step, avoiding unphysical accumulation of charged particles in front of the boundaries. As a current-driven electrostatic ion cyclotron instability grows, a d.c. potential difference along the magnetic field lines is created.

We clarify the class of second and third order ordinary differential equations which can be tranformed to the simplest equations Y″ = 0 and Y‴ = 0. The coordinate changes employed to transform the equations are respectively area preserving maps for second order equations and contact form preserving maps for third order equations. A geometric explanation of the results is also given by using connections and associated covariant differentials both on tangent and cotangent spaces.