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Yuki Fujiwara,1 Izuki Amano,1 Sumiyasu Ishii,1,2 Mikiko Kishi,3 Noriyuki Koibuchi1 1Department of Integrative Physiology, Gunma University Graduate School of Medicine, Maebashi, Gunma, Japan; 2Niigata College of Nursing, Joetsu, Niigata, Japan; 3Department of Medical Education and Development, Gunma University Graduate School of Medicine, Maebashi, Gunma, JapanCorrespondence: Noriyuki Koibuchi, Department of Integrative Physiology, Gunma University Graduate School of Medicine, 3-39-22 Showa-machi, Maebashi, Gunma, 371-8511, Japan, Tel +81-27-220-7923, Fax +81-27-220-7926, Email nkoibuch@gunma-u.ac.jpBackground: The spread of the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) has significantly affected medical education. In particular, conducting practical training in a face-to-face format has become difficult.Purpose: To address this problem, online physiology practice combined with team-based learning (TBL) for deep learning of renal physiology was conducted among second-year medical students.Participants and Methods: The experiment was performed by a group of students, while other students watched online. After the experiment, all students were grouped using breakout rooms. Following a discussion of the data, a clinical case study related to the experiment was conducted using TBL. To examine the effect of online practice in a case study under TBL, the participants completed an anonymous, open-ended, web-based questionnaire after the program, enabling us to compare their expectations and satisfaction. The questionnaire consisted of questions examining students’ opinions on the appropriateness of online practice, degree of understanding, ease of asking questions, time efficiency, and the usefulness of case studies using TBL.Results: There was no change in the number of students who participated in the online practice before and after class. After class, more students considered the level of understanding easier and displayed better on-time efficiency than with regular face-to-face training. However, these questions are difficult to answer.Conclusion: Online-based physiology practice combined with clinical case studies under TBL helped maintain students’ expectations and satisfaction with the training.Keywords: online education, physiology practice, team-based learning, COVID-19, practical training

Memes within animated graphical interchange formats (GIFs) are developed and shared by Internet users to communicate cultural ideas, symbols, or practices for a wide global audience. Among the billions of GIFs shared internationally, some portray scientists engaged in scientific work. Media and science education scholarship alike have evidenced how scientists are portrayed can influence social perceptions of science and contribute to stereotypes that deter youth's interest in and affinity to science and science occupations. To understand what social perceptions of science may manifest from new media (GIFs), the present study ascertained stereotypes using Warmth and Competence constructs from Fiske's Stereotype Content Model (SCM). The SCM utilizes high, medium, and low warmth and competence dimensions found in media-based imagery to illuminate stereotypes. Researchers coded and categorised 287 meme-based GIFs of scientists sourced the largest online GIF repository, Giphy. A directed qualitative content analysis found high-competence and low-warmth dimensions most represented within the sample that theoretically (per SCM) represent perceptions that contribute to an envious stereotype with elements of admiration and contempt. This study suggests that although there have been improvements in the portrayals of scientists in media, however, GIFs may preserve and perpetuate the trope of the competent, yet cold, scientist.

Naomi Hayashi,1 Yasuyoshi Sato,1 Yu Fujiwara,1,2 Naoki Fukuda,1 Xiaofei Wang,1 Kenji Nakano,1 Testuya Urasaki,1 Akihiro Ohmoto,1 Makiko Ono,1 Junichi Tomomatsu,1 Yukiko Sato,3 Hiroki Mitani,4 Takashi Toshiyasu,5 Shunji Takahashi1 1Department of Medical Oncology, The Cancer Institute Hospital of Japanese Foundation for Cancer Research, Tokyo, Japan; 2Department of Medicine, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, Mount Sinai Beth Israel, New York City, NY, USA; 3Pathology, The Cancer Institute Hospital of Japanese Foundation for Cancer Research, Tokyo, Japan; 4Head and Neck Oncology, The Cancer Institute Hospital of Japanese Foundation for Cancer Research, Tokyo, Japan; 5Radiation Oncology, The Cancer Institute Hospital of Japanese Foundation for Cancer Research, Tokyo, JapanCorrespondence: Yasuyoshi SatoThe Cancer Institute Hospital of Japanese Foundation for Cancer Research, 3-8-31 Ariake, Koto, Tokyo, 135-8550, JapanTel +8135200111Fax +81335200141Email yasuyoshi.sato@jfcr.or.jpPurpose: There have been few reports on the evaluation of cancer cachexia based on skeletal muscle mass index (SMI) in patients with head and neck cancer.Patients and Methods: One hundred and ninety-two head and neck cancer patients were enrolled. In definitive and adjuvant chemoradiotherapy settings, clinical outcomes were compared between cachexia and non-cachexia patients.Results: Forty patients were diagnosed with cachexia (20.8%). In the definitive setting, overall survival (OS) was significantly shorter in the cachexia group (3-year OS: 50.0% vs 88.5%; p < 0.01), and multivariate analysis identified UICC stage IV, baseline albumin of < 4 and cachexia as poor prognostic factors. However, cachexia was not significant in the adjuvant setting.Conclusion: Cancer cachexia was negatively associated with prognosis in patients with HNC who received definitive chemoradiotherapy. Nutritional intervention during chemoradiotherapy may improve survival in these patients.Keywords: head and neck cancer, squamous cell carcinoma of head and neck, sarcopenia, cachexia, muscle, skeletal, chemoradiotherapy, prognosis

We investigated the degradation of neutral beam (NB) fast-ion confinement depending on the NB power without magnetohydrodynamics instabilities in the Large Helical Device (LHD). In the LHD deuterium experiment, the neutron emission rate per NB power decreased by up to 20% with increasing injected NBs during a single discharge. Because there were no significant variations in the electron temperature and density, the NB shine-through rate, or the magnetic fluctuation due to the change in NB power, the reduction in the neutron emission rate indicates the degradation of the fast-ion confinement. In this paper, we formulated this degradation depending on the NB power and quantitatively estimated the degraded effective confinement time. In addition, we performed neutron emission rate simulations using the obtained effective confinement time. The simulation and experimental results were in good agreement, suggesting that the degraded effective confinement time is valid. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Ken Nishihara,1 Hisashi Kawai,2 Takeshi Kera,2,3 Hirohiko Hirano,4 Yutaka Watanabe,2 Yoshinori Fujiwara,2 Kazushige Ihara,5 Hunkyung Kim,2 Masashi Tanaka,4 Shuichi Obuchi2 1Department of Physical Therapy, Saitama Prefectural University, Saitama, Japan; 2Tokyo Metropolitan Institute of Gerontology, Tokyo, Japan; 3Department of Physical Therapy, Takasaki University of Health and Welfare, Gunma, Japan; 4Tokyo Metropolitan Geriatric Hospital, Tokyo, Japan; 5Department of Social Medicine, Hirosaki University Graduate School of Medicine, Aomori, Japan Purpose: The purpose of this study was to clarify the reference values of muscle thicknesses by age and to elucidate the association of muscle thickness with physical function in a large group of community-dwelling elderly individuals.Participants and methods: The muscle thicknesses of the rectus femoris (RF), vastus intermedius (VI), and quadriceps femoris (QF) in 777 of 831 enrolled elderly individuals were measured by ultrasonography, and physical function was measured using knee extension strength (KES), one-legged stance, walking, Timed Up and Go, and grip strength tests. Muscle thickness data were divided by sex and categorized into 5-year age groups. Differences in muscle thickness and KES among the age groups were examined, and correlations between muscle thickness and physical function test results were compared by age. The non-parametric independent two-sample Mann–Whitney U-test, Kruskal-Wallis test, and Spearman’s correlation coefficients were used in the statistical analysis.Results: Thickness of the RF showed fewer significant differences among all groups and less decreases compared to thickness of the VI in older age groups, especially in men. Thicknesses of the RF, VI, and QF correlated with KES in almost all the thicknesses of muscles in the 65–69 and 70–74 years age groups in men and in almost all age groups in women. The decrease in muscle thicknesses and degree of correlations with aging were different between men and women.Conclusions: Reductions in the thicknesses of the muscles and KES differed by age group and sex. Our results could be used for prescribing exercise in community-dwelling elderly individuals of varying ages. Keywords: community-dwelling elderly individual, physical function, muscle thickness, ultrasonogram

The trivalent terbium ion (Tb3+) emits ultra-stable visible light consisting of blue, green, yellow, and red. Tb-doped semiconductors are candidates for novel full-color light sources in next-generation displays. Particularly, Tb-doped AlxGa1−xN (AlxGa1−xN:Tb) has attracted much attention for device applications. We present the luminescence properties of AlxGa1−xN:Tb grown by the organometallic vapor phase epitaxy. At 15 K, emission related to the 5D4–7FJ (J = 3, 4, 5, 6) transitions is observed for AlxGa1−xN:Tb with x ≥ 0.03. Thermal quenching of emission originating from the 5D4–7FJ transition is suppressed for higher Al compositions, and the luminescence is clearly observed at room temperature for AlxGa1−xN:Tb with x ≥ 0.06. The small thermal quenching is attributed to the enhanced excitation to the 5D4 level of Tb3+ ions via the 4f–5d transition and not due to the suppression of energy back-transfer paths in excited Tb3+ ions. Although additional emission originating from the 5D3–7FJ transitions is observed at 15 K for AlxGa1−xN:Tb with x ≥ 0.15, it is not observed at room temperature because the excitation to the 5D3 level via the 4f–5d transition is less efficient at high temperature. For Al0.15Ga0.85N:Tb, monochromatic green light is demonstrated using a SiO2/ZrO2 distributed Bragg reflector. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We report on the fabrication and optical characteristics of microdisk (MD) resonators with Er,O-codoped GaAs (GaAs:Er,O) as an active component. MD resonators based on GaAs:Er,O with different sidewall angles are fabricated by electron beam lithography followed by two different processes: dry and wet etching. Numerical simulations using a finite-difference time-domain method demonstrate an increase in the cavity quality (Q) factor of the MDs when sharpening the taper angle of the MDs. Micro-photoluminescence characterization of the MD resonators with excitation by a He–Ne laser reveals an 11.4-fold enhancement of Er-related luminescence and a cavity Q factor of 4.2 × 103. For the MD resonators with tapered sidewalls, further enhancement of Er luminescence and increased Q factor (>9.0 × 103) are observed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Near-infrared (NIR) light with a wavelength of 650–950 nm is used for various biomedical applications. Although NIR emitters are typically based on GaAs-related materials, they contain toxic elements, and the emission wavelength can easily shift during the device operation due to temperature changes and current injection levels. On the other hand, Tm 3 + , which is one of the rare-earth ions, can generate ultra-stable NIR luminescence with a wavelength of ∼ 800 nm , based on 3 H 4 – 3 H 6 transitions in a 4f shell, and we have recently focused on Tm-doped GaN (GaN:Tm) based light-emitting diodes (LEDs) as novel NIR emitters. In this paper, we present a demonstration of a NIR-LED based on GaN:Tm grown by the organometallic vapor phase epitaxy method with optimized growth conditions and structures, where the parasitic reaction is well suppressed. NIR luminescence from the GaN:Tm-based LED is derived from 3 H 4 – 3 H 6 transitions of Tm 3 + ions and consists of three dominant peaks at 795, 806, and 814 nm. The turn-on voltage of the NIR-LED is ∼ 6.9 V, and it is significantly lower than the previously reported electroluminescent devices based on GaN:Tm with impact ionization processes. From a current dependence of the electroluminescence spectra and temperature-dependent photoluminescence for the NIR-LED, the peak shifts are determined to be < 7.6 pm/mA and ∼ 1.3 pm/K, respectively. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The dopant distribution and surface and structural properties of Er- and Eu-doped GaN samples were investigated using atom probe tomography (APT) and atomic force microscopy (AFM). Erbium accumulation within host GaN threading dislocations was directly detected by APT allowing for the dislocations to be imaged in three dimensions. In addition, photoluminescence spectroscopy with high lateral resolution, by means of scanning near-field optical microscopy, was performed on Eu-doped GaN samples. By combining these results with AFM mappings of the same area, it was concluded that Eu3+ ions also accumulate at threading dislocations. Moreover, high-resolution surface profiles of both samples show that even dilute doping (<0.2%) of Eu and Er has a significant influence on the growth morphology of the GaN host material and the nature of the threading dislocations within it. Transmission electron microscopy techniques were used to show the influence of rare-earth incorporation on the growth of GaN lattice and the propagation of threading dislocations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background No easy-to-use fall risk assessment tools have been devised to assess occupational fall risk in older workers. Aims To develop an Occupational Fall Risk Assessment Tool (OFRAT) and report its predictive validity and reliability in older workers. Methods The baseline fall risk assessment was completed by 1113 participants aged ≥60 years who worked ≥4 days/month in Saitama, Japan. Participants were followed up for falls during occupational activities for 1 year, and 30 participants were assessed twice for test–retest reliability. The following assessment measures were summed to form the OFRAT risk score: older age, male sex, history of falls, physical work participation, diabetes, use of medications increasing fall risk, reduced vision, poor hearing, executive dysfunction and slow stepping. The scores were then classified into four grades (0–2 points: very low, 3 points: low, 4 points: moderate and ≥5 points: high). Results During follow-up, 112 participants fell 214 times during work. The negative binomial regression model showed that participants with higher grades had a higher incidence rate ratio [95% confidence interval] for falls than those with very low grades (low: 1.64 [1.08–2.47], moderate: 4.23 [2.82–6.34] and high: 6.12 [3.83–9.76]). The intraclass correlation coefficient for risk score was 0.86 [0.72–0.93], and the weighted kappa coefficient for grade assessment was 0.74 [0.52–0.95]. Conclusions The OFRAT is a valid and reliable tool for estimating the occupational fall risk in older workers. It may assist occupational physicians implement strategies to prevent falls in this group. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]