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Prevention of perinatal depression beginning from the antenatal period is essential.
Objectives
This study aimed to investigate the effectiveness of recently developed internet-delivered cognitive behavioral therapy (iCBT) for preventing the onset of a major depressive episode (MDE) in the third trimester and at 3 months postpartum.
Methods
This is a two-arm, parallel-group, general-information controlled, randomized controlled trial. Participants were 5,017 pregnant women at 16–20 weeks’ gestation without MDE at baseline. They were randomly assigned to an iCBT (intervention; n = 2,509) or general-information (control; n = 2,508) group, stratified by psychological distress at baseline. The primary outcomes were the numbers of new MDE onsets, measured using the World Health Organization Composite International Diagnostic Interview 3.0, at 32 weeks’ gestation and at 3 months postpartum.
Results
New MDE onset was reported by 59 participants (2.35%) in the intervention group and 73 (2.91%) in the control group during follow-up. Compared with the control group, the hazard ratio (HR) of MDE in the intervention group was 0.85 (95% CI 0.61–1.20). Among participants who scored between 5 and 8 on K6 at baseline, 10 (1.37%) in the intervention group reported new onset of MDE, compared with 28 (3.81%) in the control group, and the HR of MDE was 0.38 (95%CI 0.19–0.79).
Conclusions
No intervention effect was found for iCBT in preventing new onset of perinatal MDE. iCBT might prevent perinatal depression only among pregnant women with subthreshold depressive symptoms.
The prognosis of patients with advanced squamous cell carcinoma of the external auditory canal and middle ear has been improved by advances in skull base surgery and multidrug chemoradiotherapy during the last two decades.
Methods
Ninety-five patients with squamous cell carcinoma of the external auditory canal and middle ear who were treated between 1998 and 2017 were enrolled. The number of patients with tumour stages T1, T2, T3 and T4 was 15, 22, 24 and 34, respectively. Oncological outcomes and prognostic factors were retrospectively investigated.
Results
Among patients with T4 disease, invasion of the brain (p = 0.024), carotid artery (p = 0.049) and/or jugular vein (p = 0.040) were significant predictors of poor prognosis. The five-year overall survival rate of patients with at least one of these factors (T4b) was significantly lower than that of patients without these factors (T4a) (25.5 vs 65.5 per cent, p = 0.049).
Conclusion
It is proposed that stage T4 be subclassified into T4a and T4b according to the prognostic factors.
The adsorption and desorption of cesium onto layered minerals, zeolite and geochemical reference samples were studied. 0.5 g of bentonite and mica were able to adsorb 71.2 and 51.5 mg of cesium, respectively, from 50 mL of deionized water containing 200 mg/L of cesium under neutral pH condition. These amounts of cesium adsorption were greater than those reported for vermiculites (8.9 and 5.6 mg, respectively). Additionally, the cesium adsorption on mica and vermiculite remained essentially unchanged under seawater conditions, but it decreased drastically on zeolite. The cesium desorption from the layered minerals was promoted by the addition of ammonium ions, namely trioctylmethylammonium chloride and zephiramine. These ammonium ions desorb cesium from the interlayers of the minerals without destroying the mineral structure. The cesium desorption procedure using quaternary ammonium ions would be extremely useful for decontamination of soil containing the layered minerals with adsorbed radioactive cesium.
Insufficient nutrition during the perinatal period causes structural alterations in humans and experimental animals, leading to increased vulnerability to diseases in later life. Japanese quail, Coturnix japonica, in which partial (8–10%) egg white was withdrawn (EwW) from eggs before incubation had lower birth weights than controls (CTs). EwW birds also had reduced hatching rates, smaller glomeruli and lower embryo weight. In EwW embryos, the surface condensate area containing mesenchymal cells was larger, suggesting that delayed but active nephrogenesis takes place. In mature EwW quail, the number of glomeruli in the cortical region (mm2) was significantly lower (CT 34.7±1.4, EwW 21.0±1.2); capillary loops showed focal ballooning, and mesangial areas were distinctly expanded. Immunoreactive cell junction proteins, N-cadherin and podocin, and slit diaphragms were clearly seen. With aging, the mesangial area and glomerular size continued to increase and were significantly larger in EwW quail, suggesting compensatory hypertrophy. Furthermore, apoptosis measured by terminal deoxynucleotidyl transferase-mediated dUTP-biotin nick-end labeling analysis was higher in EwWs than in CTs on embryonic day 15 and postnatal day 4 (D4). Similarly, plasma glucocorticoid (corticosterone) was higher (P<0.01) on D4 in EwW quail. These results suggest that although nephrogenic activity is high in low-nutrition quail during the perinatal period, delayed development and increased apoptosis may result in a lower number of mature nephrons. Damaged or incompletely mature mesangium may trigger glomerular injury, leading in later life to nephrosclerosis. The present study shows that birds serve as a model for ‘fetal programming,’ which appears to have evolved phylogenetically early.
A new approach is proposed to analyze Bremsstrahlung X-rays that are emitted from laser-produced plasmas (LPP) and are measured by a stack type spectrometer. This new method is based on a spectral tomographic reconstruction concept with the variational principle for optimization, without referring to the electron energy distribution of a plasma. This approach is applied to the analysis of some experimental data obtained at a few major laser facilities to demonstrate the applicability of the method. Slope temperatures of X-rays from LPP are determined with a two-temperature model, showing different spectral characteristics of X-rays depending on laser properties used in the experiments.
Human salmonellosis cases, particularly those caused by Salmonella Enteritidis, have been closely linked to egg consumption. This epidemiological survey was conducted to determine the baseline Salmonella prevalence and identify the risk factors for Salmonella prevalence in laying-hen farms in Japan. Caecal excrement samples and dust samples were obtained from 400 flocks in 338 laying-hen farms. Salmonella was identified in 20·7% of the farms and 19·5% of the flocks. The prevalence of Salmonella was significantly higher in flocks reared in windowless houses than in those reared in open houses. In addition, the risk of Salmonella presence was significantly higher when the windowless house farms implemented induced moulting or in-line egg processing. Efforts to reduce human salmonellosis in Japan should continue to focus on the establishment of control measures in laying-hen farms, especially those with windowless houses implementing induced moulting and equipped with in-line egg processing.
Upon direct inspection of surgically removed ossicles from the ears of patients with long-term post-mastoidectomy cavity problems, the extent of malleus destruction often appears greater in patients with a longer duration of cavity problems, whereas the extent of incus destruction does not appear to correlate with the duration of cavity problems. This study aimed to investigate this impression.
Materials and methods:
As a result of total middle-ear reconstruction, 41 ossicles (21 malleus and 20 incus bones) were obtained from 31 patients with post-mastoidectomy cavity problems. The ossicles were examined histopathologically, and the proportion of lamellar bone area to total bone area (expressed as percentage lamellar bone) was measured. We also calculated the inter-operation time, i.e. the time period between the previous mastoidectomy and the recent total middle-ear reconstruction; this parameter was used as an approximate measure of the duration of the patient's cavity problem. Correlations between percentage lamellar bone and inter-operation time were calculated for the two ossicles.
Results:
The range of inter-operation times was seven to 65 years. We observed a correlation between percentage lamellar bone and inter-operation time for malleus bones (r = −0.512, p < 0.05), but not for incus bones.
Conclusion:
These results were in agreement with our pre-study impressions.
We produced a mAb against the Babesia caballi extracellular merozoite termed mAb 2H2 and used it to screen a cDNA expression library prepared from B. caballi merozoite mRNA for highly expressed proteins. The complete nucleotide sequence of the cloned gene had 1547 nucleotides and contained a 36-nucleotide intron. The 1398 nucleotide open reading frame predicts a 51 kDa protein showing similarity to protein disulfide isomerase (PDI) from other species. The PDI gene had a predicted N-terminal signal sequence of 19 amino acids and a C-terminal tetrapeptide sequence (His-Thr-Glu-Leu; HTEL) for retention in lumen of the endoplasmic reticulum (ER). The recombinant protein expressed in baculovirus showed an apparent mass of 51 kDa, identical to that the native B. caballi protein. Moreover, the ER retention signal site (HTEL) of the recombinant protein retained its function in ER of insect cells. This 51 kDa protein was strongly expressed by extracelluar B. caballi merozoites in indirect immunofluorescence antibody tests, and was not expressed in the early phase of trophozoite development. Interestingly, detailed observation showed that the reaction of anti-P51 antibody and mAb 2H2 against pear-shaped forms was very erratic, some displaying one or two brightly fluorescent patterns.
The effect of blast furnace productivity on the erosion of the hearth wall and the campaign life was examined. First, the molten iron flow in the hearth was studied by a model experiment and an iron flow estimation model calculation. Next, the temperature distribution in the hearth wall was calculated by a heat transfer model, and the erosion of the wall and formation of the solidified layer were estimated. The study led to the erosion pattern during the blast furnace campaign life, which was verified by the actual furnace erosion pattern.
We report here the results of deep optical spectroscopy of the very extended emission-line region (VEELR) found serendipitously around the Seyfert 2 galaxy NGC 4388 in the Virgo cluster. The Hα recession velocities of most of the filaments of the region observed are highly blue-shifted with respect to the systemic velocity of the galaxy. The velocity field is complicated, and there seem to be several streams of filaments ranging from ~ −100 km s−1 to ~ −700 km s−1 with respect to the systemic velocity of the galaxy. The emission-line ratios of the VEELR filaments are well explained by power-law photoionization models with solar abundances. In addition to photoionization, shock heating probably contributes to the ionization of the gas. We conclude that the VEELR was formerly the disk gas of NGC 4388, which has been stripped by ram pressure due to the interaction between the hot intra-cluster medium (ICM) and the galaxy.
The interaction process between fast heavy ions and dense plasma
was experimentally investigated. We injected 4.3-MeV/u or
6.0-MeV/u iron ions into a z-pinch-discharge helium
plasma and measured the energy loss of the ions by the time
of flight method. The energy loss of 4.3-MeV/u ions fairly
agreed with theoretical prediction when the electron density
of the target was on the order of 1018 cm−3.
With increasing electron density beyond 1019
cm−3, the difference between the experiment
and the theory became remarkable; the experimental energy loss
was 15% larger than the theoretical value at the peak density.
For 6.0-MeV/u ions, the deviation from the theory appeared
even at densities below 1019 cm−3.
These discrepancies indicated that density effects such as ladderlike
ionization caused the enhancement of the projectile mean charge in the
target.
Microtribology of Silicon single crystals is one of the important factors for the practical use of MEMS. In this study, the effect of crystal orientation on microwear of Silicon single crystal and the wear structure were mainly investigated. Microfriction experiments using atomic force / friction force microscope (AFM / FFM) were carried out to investigate the effect of crystal orientation on the microwear depth of Silicon single crystals. In these experiments, the scanning-scratching directions of a tip of AFM / FFM were <100> and <110> on Si(100) surface and <112> on Si(111) surface. As a result, it was found that the depth of the wear marks generated on Silicon surfaces increased in the following order: <112>, <100>, <100>. Cross-sectional TEM observations of the microwear marks were carried out. As a result, it was found that the small dislocation loops were generated in the surface region at the first stage of the microwear, and the size and the number of dislocations increased with the progress of the microwear.
The optical constants of Si/ZnO composite films grown on quartz glass substrates were determined in the spectral range 1.5–5.0 eV by spectroscopic ellipsometry using a rotating-analyzer ellipsometer. The structure of the samples was modeled by a two-phase (substrate–film) model, and the optical functions of the film were parameterized through different effective medium approximations. The results allowed us to estimate the microstructural film parameters, such as film thickness, the volume fractions of each of the constituents, and optical constants.
Fe(III)-doped TiO2 (anatase) was prepared by the oxidation of FexTiS2. Two calcination methods were used to oxidize FexTiS2. In the first, sulfide was calcined in air at a given temperature for 2 h. In the second method, the sulfide was heated in air at a finite heating rate (2.5 K/min) and then held at a constant temperature for 2 h. Fe(III) ions completely dissolved into TiO2 (anatase), forming Fe(III)-doped TiO2 (anatase), in the composition range of 0 ⩽ Fe/Ti ⩽ 0.3 (mole ratio). The properties of the obtained oxide depended on the oxidation method of FexTiS2. The electronic property and the valence stage of the Fe(III)-doped TiO2 (anatase) were examined. The activation energy of electronic conduction decreased with an increase of the doped amount of Fe(III) ions. The x-ray photoelectron spectroscopy result showed that the electron density on the Ti ion in the Fe(III)-doped TiO2 (anatase) was decreased by the Fe(III) doping.
Decreased function of the melanocortin-4 receptor (MC4R) was reported to cause late-onset
obesity and insulin resistance in rodents. Thus mutations in the MC4R gene drew strong attention
as a possible cause of obesity and diabetes. We screened for mutations in the MC4R gene in extremely
obese [body mass index (BMI) [ges ] 35 kg/m2] Japanese with diabetes by direct sequencing. A
heterozygous mutation (V103I) was detected in one case (2.0 %), however the frequency was not
significantly different from that in non-obese (BMI [les ] 24 kg/m2) and non-diabetic subjects (2.7 %).
No other mutations were detected. These results suggest that mutations including V103I in the
MC4R gene are not a major cause of obesity or diabetes in Japanese.