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In Japan, the research and development (R&D) project on accident tolerant fuel and other components (ATFs) of light water reactors (LWRs) has been initiated in 2015 for establishing technical basis of ATFs. The Japan Atomic Energy Agency (JAEA) has coordinated and carried out this ATF R&D project in cooperation with power plant providers, fuel venders and universities for making the best use of the experiences, knowledges in commercial uses of zirconium-base alloys (Zircaloy) in LWRs. ATF candidate materials under consideration in the project are FeCrAl steel strengthened by dispersion of fine oxide particles (FeCrAl-ODS) and silicon carbide (SiC) composite, and are expecting to endure severe accident conditions in the reactor core for a longer period of time than the Zircaloy while maintaining or improving fuel performance during normal operations. In this paper, the experimental and analytical data were updated and subsequently the “knowledge gap” to the achievement of practical use was narrowed down by using the technology readiness level (TRL) tables and the attribute guides.

We investigated the suitability of cetirizine HCl (cetirizine) for the initial treatment of chronic urticaria. A secondary aim was to identify the optimal alternative treatments when switching from this drug to other drugs in patients who are dissatisfied with cetirizine. We started cetirizine at a once-daily dose of 10 mg for 2 weeks and then, depending on the course of symptoms in individual patients, it was either continued, titrated to a higher dose, or switched to other drugs (antihistamines including H2 blockers) for a further 2 weeks. Degrees of patient satisfaction and ratings by physicians were analyzed, as were adverse events. At 2 weeks after the start of treatment, among 74 patients included in the final evaluation 55 (74.3%) expressed satisfaction with cetirizine therapy. Those not satisfied included five (6.7%) who felt drowsy after taking the drug and 14 (18.9%) in whom the drug had not demonstrated adequate efficacy. After optimizing the treatment on a per-patient basis, including switching from cetirizine to other drugs, the percentage satisfied with treatment at 4 weeks was 83.7% (62/74). In the group of patients who were satisfied with the therapy at 2 weeks, attending physicians confirmed that wheals and scratches were significantly alleviated at 2 and 4 weeks, respectively. Adverse effects were mild and uncommon. Cetirizine as an initial treatment for chronic urticaria appears effective and safe. For patients in whom cetirizine fails to satisfactorily alleviate symptoms as well as those who complain of drowsiness, switching to other antihistamine drugs may be an effective strategy.

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右精巣の無痛性腫脹を主訴とした39歳男で, 超音波検査及びMRIは両側同期精巣腫瘍を描出した.両側高位精巣摘除術を行った.組織学的に退形成性セミノーマと診断された.術後, 傍大動脈及び骨盤領域に予防的照射療法を行った.5ヵ月以上の追跡中, 転移の徴候は認められなかった, A 39-year-old man was referred to our hospital with right testicular swelling. Ultrasonography and magnetic resonance imaging revealed bilateral, synchronous testicular tumors. Bilateral high inguinal orchiectomy was performed. Histological examination revealed anaplastic seminomas. Prophylactic radiation therapy was performed in the para-aortic and pelvic regions postoperatively, and no signs of metastasis have been found during the follow-up period of more than 5 months. Including the present case, 186 cases of bilateral testicular tumors reported in Japan are reviewed.

Japanese national project of next generation light water reactor (LWR) development started in 2008. Under this project, spectral shift rod (SSR) is being developed. SSR, which replaces conventional water rod (WR) of boiling water reactor (BWR) fuel bundle, was invented to enhance the BWR’s merit, spectral shift effect for uranium saving. In SSR, water boils by neutron and gamma-ray direct heating and water level is formed as a boundary of the upper steam region and the lower water region. This SSR water level can be controlled by core flow rate, which amplifies the change of average core void fraction, resulting in the amplified spectral shift effect. This paper presents the steady state test with varied SSR geometry parameters, the transient test, and the simulation analysis of these steady state and transient tests. The steady state test results showed that the basic functioning principle such as the controllability of SSR water level by flow rate was maintained in the possible range of geometry parameters. The transient test results showed that the change rate of SSR water level was slower than the initiating parameters. The simulation analysis of steady state and transient test showed that the analysis method can simulate the height of SSR water level and its change with a good agreement. As a result, it is shown that the SSR design concept and its analysis method are feasible in both steady state and transient conditions.

The circadian clock in cyanobacteria persists even without the transcription/translation feedbacks proposed for eukaryotic systems. The period of the cyanobacterial clock is tuned to the circadian range by the ATPase activity of a clock protein known as KaiC. Here, we provide structural evidence on how KaiC ticks away 24 h while coupling the ATPase activity in its N-terminal ring to the phosphorylation state in its C-terminal ring. During the phosphorylation cycle, the C-terminal domains of KaiC are repositioned in a stepwise manner to affect global expansion and contraction motions of the C-terminal ring. Arg393 of KaiC has a critical function in expanding the C-terminal ring and its replacement with Cys affects the temperature compensation of the period--a fundamental property of circadian clocks. The conformational ticking of KaiC observed here in solution serves as a timing cue for assembly/disassembly of other clock proteins (KaiA and KaiB), and is interlocked with its auto-inhibitory ATPase underlying circadian periodicity of cyanobacteria.

Japanese national project of next generation light water reactor (LWR) development started in 2008. As one of its development items, the thermal-hydraulic test of spectral shift rod (SSR) is planned. A new component called SSR, which replaces conventional water rod (WR) of boiling water reactor (BWR) fuel bundle, was invented to enhance the BWR’s merit, spectral shift effect for uranium saving. In SSR, water boils by neutron and gamma-ray direct heating and water level is formed as a boundary of the upper steam region and the lower water region. This SSR water level can be controlled by core flow rate, which amplifies core void fraction change, resulting in the amplified spectral shift effect. In this paper, its test plan overview and pre-test analysis by TRACG code is presented. The test plan was developed with the purpose of evaluating SSR thermal-hydraulic characteristics at the actual BWR operating condition (7MPa), such as the controllability of SSR water level, and obtaining data for the validation of calculation method. In the test plan, several types of SSR simulation which covers SSR design in both next generation BWR and conventional BWR were designed. Also test operating conditions such as thermal-hydraulic parameters are determined. In order to evaluate these test specifications, pre-test analysis by TRACG code was conducted. Analysis results of each parameter’s effect on SSR characteristics are consistent with SSR mechanism, which shows that the actual operating condition for SSR fuel is simulated well.Copyright © 2010 by ASME

Circadian rhythms are found in organisms from cyanobacteria to plants and animals. In flowering plants, the circadian clock is involved in the regulation of various physiological phenomena, including growth, leaf movement, stomata opening, and floral transitions. Molecular mechanisms underlying the circadian clock have been identified using Arabidopsis (Arabidopsis thaliana); the functions and genetic networks of a number of clock-related genes, including CIRCADIAN CLOCK ASSOCIATED1, LATE ELONGATED HYPOCOTYL (LHY), TIMING OF CAB EXPRESSION1, GIGANTEA (GI), and EARLY FLOWERING3 (ELF3), have been analyzed. The degree to which clock systems are conserved among flowering plants, however, is still unclear. We previously isolated homologs for Arabidopsis clock-related genes from monocotyledon Lemna plants. Here, we report the physiological roles of these Lemna gibba genes (LgLHYH1, LgLHYH2, LgGIH1, and LgELF3H1) in the circadian system. We studied the effects of overexpression and RNA interference (RNAi) of these genes on the rhythmic expression of morning- and evening-specific reporters. Overexpression of each gene disrupted the rhythmicity of either or both reporters, suggesting that these four homologs can be involved in the circadian system. RNAi of each of the genes except LgLHYH2 affected the bioluminescence rhythms of both reporters. These results indicated that these homologs are involved in the circadian system of Lemna plants and that the structure of the circadian clock is likely to be conserved between monocotyledons and dicotyledons. Interestingly, RNAi of LgGIH1 almost completely abolished the circadian rhythm; because this effect appeared to be much stronger than the phenotype observed in an Arabidopsis gi loss-of-function mutant, the precise role of each clock gene may have diverged in the clock systems of Lemna and Arabidopsis.

We have developed protocols for phase shifting the circadian rhythm of Chlamydomonas reinhardtii by light pulses. This paper describes the photobiology of phase-resetting the Chlamydomonas clock by brief (3 seconds to 15 minutes) light pulses administered during a 24 hour dark period. Its action spectrum exhibited two prominent peaks, at 520 and 660 nanometers. The fluence at 520 nanometers required to elicit a 4 hour phase shift was 0.2 millimole photon per square meter, but the pigment that is participating in resetting the clock under these conditions is unknown. The fluence needed at 660 nanomoles to induce a 4 hour phase shift was 0.1 millimole photon per square meter, which is comparable with that needed to induce the typical low fluence rate response of phytochrome in higher plants. However, the phase shift by red light (660 nanometers) was not diminished by subsequent administration of far-red light (730 nanometers), even if the red light pulse was as short as 0.1 second. This constitutes the first report of a regulatory action by red light in Chlamydomonas.

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The mode of natural killer (NK) cell migration to the sites of inflammation and transplanted tumors was investigated by using dry ice for physical irritation and 1-fluoro-2,4 dinitrobenzene (DNFB) for chemical irritation in mouse ear. In experiments with transplanted tumors, NK cell sensitive tumor cells (RL♂I) and insensitive tumor cells (p815) were transplanted into the ears of C3H and BALB/c mice, respectively. Employing a polyclonal rabbit antiserum against asialoGM1 (GA1), and a monoclonal rat antiserum against Thy-1 in an immunohistochemical double-staining technique, we enumerated the number of Thy-1-positive and asialoGM1- positive (Thy-1^+GA1^+) cells and Thy-1-negative and asialoGM1-positive (Thy-1^-GA1^+) cells at various times of irritation. Following physical irritation, Thy-1^-GA1^+ cells (108.8 ± 4.5/mm2 at 24 hand 71.2 ± 3.8/mm2 at 48 h) were found in the epidermis, whereas Thy-1^+GA1^+ cells were not found. In delayed-type skin reaciton by DNFB, Thy-1^-GA1^+ cells (87.1 ± 5.8/mm2 at 24h and 60.7 ± 2.9/mm2 at 48h) and Thy-1^+GA1^+ cells (26.4 ± 3.6/mm2 at 24h and 15.3 ± 4.3/mm2 at 48h) were found in the dermis. Since it was reported by previous investigators that Thy-1^+GA1^+ cells are NK cells, we assumed that NK cells infiltrated nonspecifically in the dermis in delayed-type skin reaction by DNFB. In the tumor transplant experiments. the GA1^+ cells were found near both types of tumors, but they were in contact with RL♂1 and not with p815. Because it was reported that GA1^+ monocytes do not have cytotoxicity against tumor cells, our findings suggest that GA1^+ cells migrate nonspecifically to the sites of inflammation, and that the NK cells among them may make direct contact with the tumor cells when they encounter NK cell sensitive tumors.

1) A 71-year-old woman was admitted with the left flank mass with tenderness and hematuria. She also had hypertension. She was found to have multilocular cyst of the kidney and had surgical treatment. 2) This case seemed to be the twelfth case of multilocular cyst of the kidney in Japan. Classification of the cystic renal diseases was discussed here with review of some literature in order to locate this disease in the correct position of the classification. 3) It was emphasized that histological investigation is further required in this kind of renal disease in order to investigate its pathogenesis. In our case, fibrosis of the cyst wall, scattered tubulus-like glandular structure filled with eosinophilic material and the capillary neogenesis were characteristic.

We have created a new computerized video method [the Tracker-Cell Movement Analyzer (TCMA)] for flexible and detailed time-related tracking and analyses of cell movements, especially behavioral responses to light stimuli. TCMA displays the swimming tracks of the individual cells in consecutive time segments of variable length using different colors to represent different time segments; it automatically performs statistical analyses of the swimming directions and velocities of the cells in each time segment. As an example of its many possible applications, an analysis of the circadian rhythms of phototactic orientation and motility in Chlamydomonas was performed. It is thus clearly demonstrated that the velocity of motile cells, the phototactic orientation and the percentage of motile cells, changed rhythmically in a circadian manner, all in the same phase, i.e. the maximum occurred at the “subjective dawn” and the minimum at the “subjective dusk”. These facts can quantitatively account for the observed circadian change in the photoaccumulation activity.

A 47-year-old man was admitted because of gross hematuria and dull pain over left flank. Nephrectomy was performed under the diagnosis of renal tumor. Removed specimen showed multilocular cystic changes on cut surface. Discussions were made on cystic changes in renal tumor, particularly on their incidence and pathogenesis.

The effect of Li(+) on the period of the K(+) uptake rhythm in the flow medium culture of the duckweed (Lemna gibba G3) was investigated under various ionic conditions. In the presence of Li(+) at 0.2 millimolar or higher concentrations, the period was longer than the normal level of 25.4 hours by 2 hours. Li(+) also lowered the amplitude of the rhythm. Although Na(+) itself did not change any parameter of the rhythm, simultaneous application of Na(+) at a very low concentration (20 micromolar) almost completely removed the effects of 0.5 millimolar Li(+) on both the period and the amplitude. However, divalent cations (Ca(2+) and Mg(2+)) or Rb(+) did not remove the Li(+) action on the period. The effect of Li(+) and its removal by Na(+) corresponded to intracellular Li(+) and Na(+) levels. The period was prolonged when the duckweed contained more Li(+) than 5 micromoles/gram fresh weight. But the Li(+) effect was cancelled when the in vivo Na(+) level was greater than one-fifth that of Li(+), even if the Li(+) level exceeded over 5 micromoles/gram fresh weight.

A 6-hour application (6-hour pulse) of 1 millimolar azide significantly changed the phase of the potassium uptake rhythm of Lemna gibba G3. The phase response curve obtained was type 0 and very similar to that caused by a 6-hour pulse of low temperature (5 degrees C) or darkness. The magnitude of the phase shift and the type of the phase response curve depended on the concentration of azide. However, 6-hour pulses of 3 millimolar cyanide or 10 micromolar (3-(3,4-dichlorophenyl)-1,1-dimethylurea) failed to shift the phase of the rhythm, while these pulses lowered the rate of carbon dioxide uptake or release. Azide, even at 3 micromolar, selectively reduced the amplitude of the rhythm without inhibiting the mean level of potassium uptake.

名古屋大学博士学位論文 学位の種類:理学博士 (課程) 学位授与年月日:昭和54年3月26日