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Background It has not been clarified whether physical frailty symptoms predict social. frailty. The purpose of this study was to elucidate the effect of physical frailty on social frailty, and to determine which domains of physical frailty predict the development of social frailty. Methods We employed a two-year prospective cohort study. A total of 342 socially robust community-dwelling older adults were recruited. We used a modified social frailty screening index consisting of four social domains including financial difficulties, living alone, social activity, and contact with neighbors. Physical frailty status was also assessed at baseline. At the two-year follow-up, we assessed the development of social frailty. Social status was assessed using four social subdomains for the primary analysis. Social status was assessed using the two social subdomains of social activity and contact with neighbors, which would be affected by the physical frailty component, for the secondary analysis. The risk ratios (RR) of physical frailty for the development of social frailty were estimated. Results Although physical frailty symptoms were not a significant risk factor for future development of social frailty as assessed by four social subdomains (adjusted RR 1.39, 95% CI 0.95–2.15), it became significant when development of social frailty was assessed by the two social subdomains (adjusted RR 1.78, 95% CI 1.10–2.88). An analysis using the physical frailty subdomain showed that slow gait speed (adjusted RR 3.41, 95% CI 1.10–10.53) and weakness (adjusted RR 1.06, 95% CI 1.01–1.12) were independent risk factors for development of social frailty as assessed by two social subdomains. Conclusions Physical frailty symptoms predict the development of social frailty. Among physical frailty subdomains, gait speed and muscle strength are critical independent risk factors for future decline in the social aspect. The prevention of physical frailty, especially by maintaining gait ability and muscle strength, may be effective for avoiding social frailty.

In this study, we estimate the curing state of an entire carbon-fiber-reinforced plastic laminate by using data assimilation that combines observation values and simulation. We used curing simulation based on an estimated thermal conductivity distribution to perform multi-objective optimization of a localized heating method to minimize the cure degree inhomogeneity and curing time. We found from the values of objective functions that multi-objective optimization, using curing simulation based on data assimilation, is effective for minimizing the cure degree inhomogeneity and curing time. In addition, it was verified that the solution set obtained by data assimilation is superior to that without data assimilation by using the Hypervolume method. We also used self-organizing maps to visualize the multi-objective optimization results of the models that perform the internal estimation using data assimilation, in order to show that the relationships between the objective functions and the design variables can be clarified.

Recently, ultra high definition television (UHDTV) services have become popular using satellites and the Internet. However, there are expansive volumes of high definition television (HDTV) and standard definition television (SDTV) contents held by broadcasting companies and in storage devices. Herein we propose two color space conversion (also known as gamut mapping) methods from BT.709 (used for current HDTV broadcast) to BT.2020 (used for UHDTV broadcast) that restore or estimate lost color information. One of our methods anisotropically diffuses the BT.709 chromaticities with regard to the direction of the original chromaticities in the BT.2020 color space, generating chromaticities out of BT.709 gamut. The other learns an end-to-end conversion method from a BT.709 image to a BT.2020 image and restores lost color information using convolutional neural network (CNN). Using these methods along with BT.709 images, we obtain BT.2020 images with chromaticities from the BT.709 color gamut.

The models and parameters related to the generated curing heat in the molding simulation of composite materials are dependent on the type of resin used and the experimental conditions. Therefore, in this study, we estimated the generated curing heat that changes with time by a data assimilation method, which combines the observation values with simulation values, so that the heat curing simulation of carbon fiber reinforced polymers (CFRPs) becomes closer to the experimental conditions. In the data assimilation method, the temperature distribution on the surface of the composite material was used as an observation value, and the generated curing heat was estimated using an ensemble Kalman filter. By optimizing the data assimilation parameters in advance using the response surface method and estimating the generated curing heat by numerical experiments, the generated curing heat could be estimated with an accuracy represented by the time mean error of less than 6%., Materials science; Mechanical engineering; Heat transfer; Materials characterization; Materials mechanics; Solid mechanics; Composite materials; Data assimilation; Process simulation; Process monitoring

The original version of this article unfortunately contained mistakes introduced during the production process. Tables 1 and 2 were presented incorrectly. The original article has been corrected.

To examine how territorial males counter reproductive parasites, we examined the paternity of broods guarded by territorial males using 5 microsatellite loci and factors that determine siring success in a wild population of the Lake Tanganyika cichlid Lamprologus lemairii. Females enter rock holes (nests) and spawn inside, and territorial males release milt over the nest openings. Sneakers attempt to dart into the nests, but territorial males often interrupt the attempt. The body size of territorial males (territorial defense ability) and the size of nest opening (the ability to prevent sneakers from nest intrusions) are predicted to be factors that affect paternity at the premating stage, whereas milt quality traits are factors that affect paternity at the postmating stage. Parentage analyses of 477 offspring revealed that most clutches have few or no cuckolders, and territorial males sired >80% of eggs in 7 of the 10 analyzed clutches. Larger territorial males that spawned in nests with narrower openings had greater siring success. In contrast, none of the milt traits affected the siring success. These suggest that territorial male L. lemairii adopt premating strategies whereby they effectively prevent reproductive parasitism.

Hybrids from the cross between males of Drosophila melanogaster and females of its sibling species (D. simulans, D. mauritiana, or D. sechellia) are embryonic lethal when they carry the wild type allele of zygotic hybrid rescue (zhr) from D. melanogaster. The zhr gene has been mapped in the proximal region of the X heterochromatin slightly distal to the proximal breakpoint of In(1)sc8, the region rich in 1.688 g/cm3 satellite DNA. Since this satellite DNA does not exist in the sibling species, the satellite DNA was considered to be involved in the hybrid lethality. We examined the hypothesis molecular cytogenetically. The results are (1) three Df(1)zhr chromosomes carried this satellite DNA, and (2) hybrids were viable even if the amount of the satellite DNA in hybrids was increased by adding minichromosomes Dp(1;f)1205 and Dp(1;f)1187 into the genome. These results do not support the above hypothesis.

To elucidate the causes of clinal life-history variation in male freshwater amphidromous Cottus hangiongensis found along the river courses, we ex- amined the genetic composition of upstream, mid- stream, and downstream groups using microsatellite DNA markers and different growth patterns among juvenile individuals before and after they ascended a small, steep mountainous river in southern Hokkaido, Japan. Microsatellite allele frequencies indicated that the samples collected from three different habitats appeared to represent a panmictic population and no genetic dif- ferences were found among the three groups. Ecological field surveys showed that juveniles greatly depended on the timing of their ascent into the river from the sea, and that larger juveniles were able to disperse to more up- stream areas and grew larger during the period after they migrated up to the mouth of the river. These results suggested that clinal life-history variations may be in- duced through phenotypic plasticity and that earlier as- cent of juveniles from the mouth of river may be an important source of variation.