Twins lag behind singletons in their early psychomotor development, but little is known about how chorionicity affects this difference. We compared early psychomotor development in singletons, monochorionic (MC) twins and dichorionic (DC) twins. Our longitudinal data from the Japan Environment and Children’s Study (JECS; see Appendix) included 98,042 singletons, 577 MC twins and 1051 DC twins representing the general Japanese population. Chorionicity was evaluated by ultrasound images and complemented by postnatal pathological examinations. Five domains of psychomotor development were evaluated at 6 time points from 6 months to 3 years of age using the Ages and Stages Questionnaires (ASQ-3). The data were analyzed using linear regression models. Twins lagged behind singletons in all areas of psychomotor development during infancy. This gap decreased over time but was still noticeable at 3 years of age. More than half of this difference was attributed to twins having lower birth weight and being born earlier in gestation. MC twins showed slightly delayed development compared to DC twins, but this difference was minor compared to the overall gap between twins and singletons. Twins delay singletons in their early psychomotor development, and this delay is not specific to MC twinning.

We prospectively examined the association between low-carbohydrate diet (LCD) score and incidence of type 2 diabetes (T2D) in Japanese adults using Japan Collaborative Cohort Study for Evaluation of Cancer Risk (JACC Study) data. A total of 19 084 (7052 men and 12 032 women) Japanese non-diabetic participants aged 40–79 years, who enrolled in the JACC study between 1988 and 1990, were included in our analysis. Dietary intake was evaluated using a validated food-frequency questionnaire. The overall, animal and vegetable LCD scores were calculated by dividing the study participants into eleven categories based on the percentages of energy from carbohydrates, protein and fat. The incidence of T2D was assessed using a self-administered questionnaire. We used multivariable logistic regression analysis to estimate the odds ratios (ORs) and 95 % confidence intervals (CIs) of incident T2D across the quintile of each LCD score, with adjustment for potential confounders. During the 5-year study period, 490 adults (247 men and 243 women) developed T2D. The multivariable-adjusted OR of incident T2D for the highest v. lowest quintiles of overall and animal LCD scores, respectively, were 0·64 (95 % CI 0·42, 0·99) and 0·83 (95 % CI 0·55, 1·27) for men, 0·78 (95 % CI 0·51, 1·18) and 0·84 (95 % CI 0·57, 1·24) for women. The vegetable LCD score was associated with a lower risk of T2D in men (OR 0·51; 95 % CI 0·33, 0·77). Our results suggest that diets lower in carbohydrates and higher in fat and protein are unlikely to higher the T2D risk among Japanese individuals.

The unidentified infrared (UIR) bands, whose carriers are thought to be organics, have been widely observed in various astrophysical environments. However, our knowledge of the detailed chemical composition and formation process of the carriers is still limited. We have synthesized laboratory organics named Quenched Nitrogen-included Carbonaceous Composite (QNCC) by quenching plasma produced from nitrogen gas and hydrocarbon solids. Infrared and X-ray analyses of QNCC showed that infrared properties of QNCC well reproduce the UIR bands observed in novae and amine structures contained in QNCC play an important role in the origin of the broad 8 m feature, which characterizes the UIR bands in novae. QNCC is at present the best laboratory analog of organic dust formed around dusty classical novae, which carries the UIR bands in novae via thermal emission process [Endo et al.(2021)].

Maternal diet during pregnancy can influence fetal growth; however, the available evidence is controversial. We aimed to assess whether maternal diet of Japanese women in mid-pregnancy can affect their offspring’s birth size via collection of questionnaire and medical record data. The studied sample was a large cohort of paired mothers and their singleton offspring (n 78 793) from fifteen areas all over Japan who participated in the Japan Environment and Children’s Study. The mid-pregnancy intakes of total energy, macronutrients and vitamins were lower than the recommended intakes for pregnant Japanese women. Maternal total energy intake was positively associated with the offspring’s birth weight; there was a 10-g mean difference in the offspring’s birth weight of mothers in the lowest (3026 g) v. highest (3036 g) quartiles of energy intake. Carbohydrate intake was positively associated with the offspring’s birth length (mean difference of 0·7 cm) and inversely associated with the ponderal index (mean difference of 0·8 g/cm3). Offspring of mothers in the highest v. lowest quartiles of total dietary fibre intake were on average 9 g heavier and had 0·3 cm longer birth length and 0·2 cm longer head circumference. The highest in reference to lowest intake quartile of vitamin C was associated with 13 g and 0·7 cm mean differences in the offspring’s birth weight and length, respectively. Several other associations were evident for maternal intakes of vitamins and the offspring’s birth size. In conclusion, maternal dietary intakes of energy, dietary fibre, carbohydrate and vitamins during pregnancy were associated with the offspring’s birth size.

The association of chocolate consumption with risk of gestational diabetes has not been examined. We aimed to investigate the prospective association between chocolate consumption and risk of gestational diabetes in a large birth cohort in Japan. A total of 97 454 pregnant women with a median gestational age of 12 weeks were recruited from January 2011 to March 2014. Data on demographic information, disease history, socio-economic status, lifestyle and dietary habits were obtained at the study enrolment. Dietary intake during the past 12 months before study enrolment was assessed through a semi-quantitative FFQ. The logistic regression was used to obtain the OR of gestational diabetes in relation to chocolate consumption. Among 84 948 women eligible for the analysis, 1904 cases of gestational diabetes (2·2 %) were identified during the period of pregnancy. After controlling for potential confounding factors including age, smoking status, drinking status, education level, occupation, pre-pregnant BMI, depression, previous history of macrosomia babies, parity, physical activity and dietary factors, women in the highest quartile of chocolate consumption, compared with those in the lowest quartile, had a significantly lower risk of developing gestational diabetes (OR 0·78, 95 % CI 0·67, 0·90; P for trend = 0·002). Stratified analyses suggested that the association was not significantly modified by pre-pregnancy BMI, age, parity, smoking status or drinking status. The present prospective cohort study provided evidence that chocolate consumption was associated with a significant lower risk of gestational diabetes in Japanese women.

We have succeeded in synthesizing organics, ‘Quenched Nitrogen-included Carbonaceous Composite (QNCC)’, via plasma chemical vapor deposition (CVD) method, whose infrared spectral properties reproduce the characteristics of the unidentified infrared (UIR) bands observed around classical novae. Past studies have shown that the UIR bands observed around novae appear somewhat differently from those observed in other astrophysical environment and are predominantly characterized by the presence of a broad 8μm feature. The remarkable similarity between the infrared properties of QNCC and the UIR bands in novae indicates that QNCC should be considered as a strong candidate of the carriers of the UIR bands in novae. Finally, we have started a space exposure experiment of QNCC aiming to explore the evolutional link between the QNCC and the insoluble organic molecule (IOM) in carbonaceous condrite and, thus, to infer the origins of organics in our solar system.

Nb-doped TiO2 thin-films were prepared on fluorine-doped tin oxide (FTO) coated glass directly with niobium ethoxide and TiCl4 in water under the acidic conditions with several concentrations of HCl at 70-90 °C for 45 minutes or 1 hour followed by rinsing with water and annealing at 100 °C for 1 hour. Thin films of 0-1% Nb-doped TiO2 with rutile phase on FTO were obtained, which were confirmed through X-ray diffraction analyses and measurements of energy dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (EDS). Scanning electron microscopy observations equipped with EDS revealed that higher growth temperature over 90 °C is required for doping of Nb. While higher concentration of HCl resulted in much amount of Nb-doping. Band gap of rutile TiO2 gradually reduced from 3.3 eV to 3.23 eV through Nb-doping from 0% to 1%, which were estimated from uv-vis absorption spectroscopic analyses. Hall effect measurements by taking van der Pauw method confirmed that 2.26 times increase of the carrier density and 1.78 times enhancement of the conductivity have been achieved in the case of 1% Nb-doping.

The unidentified infrared (UIR) bands have been ubiquitously observed in various astrophysical environments and consist of a series of emission features arising from aromatic and/or aliphatic C-C and C-H bonds [1]. Therefore, their carriers are thought to be related to interstellar organics. However, our knowledge on the true carriers of the UIR bands is still limited. Recently [4] has proposed Mixed Aromatic Aliphatic Organic Nanoparticles, which contains hetero atoms in addition to conventional hydrocarbon models, as a more realistic interpretation of the band carriers. The challenges toward identifying the carriers of the UIR bands are still ongoing. Past studies have shown that the UIR bands observed around classical novae, which characterized by the presence of broad feature around 8μm[2], are somewhat different from those observed in other astrophysical environment. Here we report the success of experimentally synthesizing the organics called Nitrogen-included Carbonaceous Compounds (NCC; [7]) whose infrared properties can reproduce the UIR bands observed in classical novae.

Over the past 20 years, many designer drugs derived from controlled substances have been widely distributed as easily available psychoactive substances and have become a serious problem in Japan. In order to determine the absolute structures of four new designer drugs derived from medicines (methylphenidate and phenmetrazine) X-ray single-crystal structure analyses were performed using the BL26B1 beamline of synchrotron radiation facility SPring-8. The results show that the molecular configuration of these designer drugs (having two asymmetric carbons), which were distributed in the illegal drug market had threo-forms as found for methylphenidate and phenmetrazine.

The umami seasoning, monosodium l-glutamate (MSG), has been shown to increase satiety in normal body weight adults, although the results have not been consistent. The satiety effect of MSG in overweight and obese adults has not been examined yet. The objective of the present study was to investigate the effect of MSG in a vegetable soup on subsequent energy intakes as well as food selection in overweight and obese adult women without eating disorders. A total of sixty-eight overweight and obese women (BMI range: 25·0–39·9 kg/m2), otherwise healthy, were recruited to our study. A fixed portion (200 ml) of control vegetable soup or the same soup with added MSG (0·5 g/100 ml) was provided 10 min before an ad libitum lunch and an ad libitum snack in the mid-afternoon. The control soup had equivalent amount of Na to the soup with added MSG. Energy intakes at the ad libitum lunch and ad libitum snack time after the soup preload were assessed using a randomised, double-blind, two-way cross-over design. The soup with MSG in comparison with the control soup resulted in significantly lower consumption of energy at lunch. The addition of MSG in the soup also reduced energy intake from high-fat savoury foods. The soup with MSG showed lower but no significant difference in energy intake at mid-afternoon. The addition of umami seasoning MSG in a vegetable soup may decrease subsequent energy intake in overweight and obese women who do not have eating disorders.

The Great East Japan Earthquake occurred on March 11, 2011. In the first 10 days after the event, information about radiation risks from the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant was unavailable, and the disaster response, including deployment of disaster teams, was delayed. Beginning on March 17, 2011, the Japan Medical Association used a geographic information system (GIS) to visualize the risk of radiation exposure in Fukushima. This information facilitated the decision to deploy disaster medical response teams on March 18, 2011.

Nagata T, Kimura Y, Ishii M. Use of a geographic information system (GIS) in the medical response to the Fukushima nuclear disaster in Japan. Prehosp Disaster Med. 2012;27(2):1-3.

Often, silver nanoparticles (AgNps) are looked at in the realm of their plasmonic effects that are characterized by unique absorptional bands in the visible spectrum. Herein, the kinetics of a simple gravity mediated sedimentation process of AgNps, in aqueous suspensions. The surface energy mismatch between the AgNps and the receiver substrate allow for the formation of irregularly shaped AgNp microclusters with interconnected microchannels with dimensions and particle density controlled by the distance between the exposed substrate surface and the water/suspension interface. An investigation of the interplay between these properties and the films’ nanoparticle density is presented.

In their 2007 paper, Jarvis, Kaufmann, and Kimura defined the full orbifoldK-theory of an orbifold , analogous to the Chen-Ruan orbifold cohomology of in that it uses the obstruction bundle as a quantum correction to the multiplicative structure. We give an explicit algorithm for the computation of this orbifold invariant in the case when arises as an abelian symplectic quotient. To this end, we introduce the inertial K-theory associated to a T -action on a stably complex manifold M, where T is a compact abelian Lie group. Our methods are integral K-theoretic analogues of those used in the orbifold cohomology case by Goldin, Holm, and Knutson in 2005. We rely on the K-theoretic Kirwan surjectivity methods developed by Harada and Landweber. As a worked class of examples, we compute the full orbifold K-theory of weighted projective spaces that occur as a symplectic quotient of a complex affine space by a circle. Our computations hold over the integers, and in the particular case of these weighted projective spaces, we show that the associated invariant is torsion-free.

In order to apply P(VDF-TeFE) piezoelectric polymer to micro-generator as a membrane, the polymer is deposited on a substrate by spin-coating method. In this process, some changes of properties and quality of the film are caused by a solvent which was used to dissolve the polymer granule. Since a solvent affects the film properties and surface stability, we have carried out the thermal process at a temperature higher than melting point. However, this thermal process due to a temperature higher than Curie point of the polymer causes a falling-off in electrical properties. In this paper, we have studied a method to prevent a falling-off in electric properties of P(VDF-TeFE) film even though the film is annealed at a temperature higher than Curie point.

Tb-doped AlBNO (AlBNO:Tb) films with various composition ratios are investigated for luminescence layers of inorganic electroluminescence(EL) devices. Luminescence layers with a wide bandgap and a low dielectric constant are required to realize high performance of EL devices. The ultraviolet-visible radiation absorption measurement and capacitance-voltage (C-V) measurement show that the AlBNO:Tb films have wider bandgap and lower dielectric constant than ZnS which is put to practical use as the host material of the luminescence layer. Photoluminescence (PL) measurement indicates that PL intensity increases with increasing B composition ratio in the range of 5 % - 10 %. Moreover, the suppression factor of the PL intensity can be understood through the annealing experiment. The PL intensity of the film with 800 °C annealing is about 10 times larger than that of the film without annealing. X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) measurement suggests that Tb4+ ions decrease compared with Tb3+ ions after annealing treatment. O atoms in the AlBNO:Tb film are dissociated from Tb and bonded to B atoms by annealing treatment. This suggests that decrease of Tb4+ ions is related to increase of the PL intensity.

A comparison of needlestick injury surveillance data from Japan and the United States revealed a higher proportion of foot injuries to Japanese healthcare workers (HCWs), compared with US HCWs. This study investigates the underlying factors that contribute to this difference and proposes evidence-based prevention strategies to address the risk, including the use of safety-engineered needle devices, point-of-use disposal containers for sharp instruments and devices, and closed-toe footwear.

We investigated the copper grain size dependence on the interconnect line height using the EBSD (Electron Back Scattering Diffraction) pattern method. In our grain size measurements, we excluded the twin boundaries because of its small contribution to the electron scattering. Our experiments showed that the average grain size of a 70 nm-high line was about 24% smaller than for a 190 nm-high line.

We estimated the grain boundary scattering components by the Fuchs-Sondheimer (FS) and the Mayadas-Shatzkes (MS) models including the line height dependence of the grain size parameter (d). In order to evaluate precisely the influence of height dependence of grain size in the FS and MS models, we also determined the surface scattering coefficient of the Ta/Cu and SiC/Cu interfaces by an independent experiment.

From this, we found that grain boundary scattering components became approximately 32% larger for the 70 nm-wide line when the line height dependence of the grain size was taken into consideration.

Iron silicide thin films were prepared on silicon (Si) and yittria-stabilized zirconia (YSZ) substrates using RF magnetron sputtering and evaporation methods. Epitaxial b-FeSi2 thin films were grown on (100) and (111) planes of Si and YSZ substrates, while noncrystallized films were deposited on (110) plane of both Si and YSZ substrates. The epitaxial relationships between the b-FeSi2 and YSZ were the same as those between b-FeSi2 and Si, in the case of (100) and (111) planes. It is possible that epitaxial b-FeSi2 film can be grown when substrates and b-FeSi2 surfaces consist of either a single element or only cations, while the crystalline film was not shown when either substrate or b-FeSi2 surface consists of a mixture of anions and cations or iron and silicon.

For any finite group G we define the moduli space of pointed admissible G-covers and the concept of a G-equivariant cohomological field theory (G-CohFT), which, when G is the trivial group, reduces to the moduli space of stable curves and a cohomological field theory (CohFT), respectively. We prove that taking the ‘quotient’ by G reduces a G-CohFT to a CohFT. We also prove that a G-CohFT contains a G-Frobenius algebra, a G-equivariant generalization of a Frobenius algebra, and that the ‘quotient’ by G agrees with the obvious Frobenius algebra structure on the space of G-invariants, after rescaling the metric. We then introduce the moduli space of G-stable maps into a smooth, projective variety X with G action. Gromov–Witten-like invariants of these spaces provide the primary source of examples of G-CohFTs. Finally, we explain how these constructions generalize (and unify) the Chen–Ruan orbifold Gromov–Witten invariants of $[X/G]$ as well as the ring $H^{\bullet}(X,G)$ of Fantechi and Göttsche.