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Pentagons in carbon materials have attracted attentions because of the potential high chemical reactivity, band gap control, and electrochemical activity. However, it is challenging to prepare a carbon film with high pentagon density because of the curvature and the high reactivity caused by the presence of pentagons, and it is also challenging to estimate the percentage of pentagons in carbon materials because of the limitation of current analytical techniques. In this work, the percentage of pentagons in carbon materials was experimentally estimated for the first time using experimental and calculated C1s X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy and elemental analysis. Carbon films with 7% of pentagons (40% of pentagons compared to the raw material) with electrical resistivity of 1.1 × 104 Ω meter were prepared by heat treatment of corannulene at 873 K. On the other hand, fluoranthene and fullerene remained as non-film solid and powder without forming films at 873 K. Experimental and calculated Raman and IR spectra revealed the peaks of different types of pentagons. Decrement of pentagons in corannulene and fluoranthene heated at high temperatures can be explained mainly by the scission of C=C bond in pentagons, as suggested by the results of reactive molecular dynamics simulation (ReaxFF).

Naturally occurring fungi have been used in the traditional production of dried bonito, Katsuobushi, in Japan. In this study, we analyzed the fungal population present during Katsuobushi production. Amplicon sequence analysis of ITS1 indicated that Aspergillus spp. are predominant throughout the production process. In addition, culture-dependent analyzes identified three species Aspergillus chevalieri, Aspergillus montevidensis, and Aspergillus sydowii, based on sequencing of benA, caM, and rpb2 genes. A. chevalieri isolates were classified into teleomorphic and anamorphic strains based on morphological analysis. A. chevarieri was the dominant species throughout the production process, whereas A. montevidensis increased and A. sydowii decreased in abundance during Katsuobushi production. Our study will enhance the understanding of fungal species involved in traditional Katsuobushi production.

Objective This study aims to investigate the changes in renal function and levels of urinary biomarkers before and after cardiac angiography in children with congenital heart disease (CHD). Setting Children with CHD are at a risk for kidney injury during contrast exposure in cardiac angiography. Outcome measures We measured urinary protein, albumin, N-acetyl-β-D-glucosaminidase (NAG), β2-microglobulin (BMG), and liver-type fatty acid-binding protein (L-FABP) levels, as well as serum creatinine and cystatin C levels, before and after cardiac angiography in 33 children with CHD. Results No significant decrease was noted in either the creatinine-based or cystatin C-based estimated glomerular filtration rate at 24 hours after angiography compared with that before angiography. Urinary protein, NAG, BMG, and L-FABP levels were significantly increased at 24 hours after angiography, all of which returned to baseline levels at more than 7 days after angiography. An increase in urinary level of protein, albumin, NAG, or BMG was mostly associated with increased urinary L-FABP level. An increase in both urinary BMG and L-FABP, but not that in urinary L-FABP alone, was associated with increased levels of urinary protein and NAG, as well as the greater dose of contrast media. Conclusions Transient increases of kidney injury biomarkers following cardiac angiography are not necessarily associated with the impairment of renal function in a short time period; however, the increase in urinary protein, albumin, NAG, or BMG level may indicate greater stresses to the kidneys than the increase in urinary L-FABP alone in children with CHD.

Vapor-phase catalytic dehydration of 2,3-butanediol (2,3-BDO) to produce 3-buten-2-ol (3B2OL) was investigated over several monoclinic ZrO 2 (m-ZrO 2 ) catalysts modified with alkaline earth metal oxides (MOs), such as SrO, BaO, and MgO, to compare with the previously reported CaO/m-ZrO 2 . It was found that these modifiers enhanced the 3B2OL formation to the same level as CaO did by loading an appropriate MO content. Among all the tested catalysts, the BaO/m-ZrO 2 calcined at 800 °C with a low BaO content (molar ratio of BaO/ZrO 2 = 0.0452) shows the highest 2,3-BDO conversion (72.4%) and 3B2OL selectivity (74.4%) in the initial stage of 5 h at 350 °C. In order to characterize those catalysts, their catalytic activities, crystal structures, and basic properties were studied in detail. In X-ray diffraction (XRD) and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) experiment, it was elucidated that highly dispersed M-O-Zr (M = Ca, Sr, and Ba) hetero-linkages were formed on the surface by loading these MOs onto m-ZrO 2 with an appropriate content and then calcining at 800 °C. It can be concluded that the M-O-Zr hetero-linkages generate the proper base-acid balance for the efficient formation of 3B2OL from 2,3-BDO.

Selective doping of nitrogen into carbon materials in the absence of catalysts is a key for various applications of carbon materials. It is well known that most nitrogen-containing raw materials generate unnecessary functional groups during carbonization. Many researchers have noticed the significance of the selective nitrogen doping, whereas only a few works have reported the selective doping. In addition, those few works used catalysts to synthesize nitrogen-doped carbon materials, but the presence of catalysts limits the applications of nitrogen-doped carbon materials. This study found an unusual aromatic compound, imidazo[1,2-a]pyridine (IP), which maintained 88 % of the functional groups of as-received IP even after carbonization at 673 K in the absence of catalysts, and the functional groups were further maintained up to 773 K. The percentage of remaining functional groups was revealed using our state-of-the-art techniques of simulated X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy and Raman spectroscopy combined with transition state calculation using density functional theory. The low carbonization temperature as well as selective doping of nitrogen was achieved because of the low activation energy of dehydrogenation reaction among IP molecules compared to the high activation energy of radical formation for scission of C–N bonding.

日常生活における快適性と省エネルギーのバランスをとるための基礎実験として，本論文は構造方程式モデリングを用いた分析結果について述べる．分析は，「体の各部位の温冷感が体全体の快適性にどのように影響を与えるか」に関するものであり，使用したデータは 22人の被験者が９条件のもので徐々に暖房したときの体感について 10分毎にアンケートに回答したものである．モデルの変数として，（1）ある時点での体感値，（2）ある時点とその前の時点での体感値，（3）ある時点の体感値とその前の時点からの差分，（4）ある時点でのその前の時点との差分，の４種類のモデルを構築したところ，次の３つの知見を得た：（1）４番目のある時点とその前の時点との差分に基づくモデルがもっともよいモデル適合度指標を得た，（2）尻と胸の温冷感の変化が体全体の快適性にもっとも影響を与えた，（3）疲労感は体の部位の温冷感とは相関をもたなかった．

症例は51歳女性. 15年来の糖尿病歴があり, 1995年7月, 糖尿病性腎症により血液透析導入. 当初より上腸間膜動脈血栓症に対する空腸切除術後のためと考えられる断続的な下痢症を認め, インスリンによる血糖コントロールは不良であった.1996年8月10日頃から徐々に全身倦怠感が出現. その後, 歩行時のふらつきと軽度の構語障害が出現したため, 頭部CTを施行するも特に病変を認めなかった. 8月20日にはNa 125mEq/lと低Na血症を認めたため, 食塩の摂取を促した. 8月21日に頭部MRIを施行したところ, 橋中央部に低信号域を認めた. 他の臨床所見と併せてcentral pontine myelinolysis (CPM) と診断した. 8月24日入院. 少量のNa補充と止痢剤の強化, および除水と厳密な血糖コントロールにより緩徐なNa補正を行い, 著明な神経学的改善を認めた.低Na血症の主な原因として, 断続的な下痢症によるNaの喪失や食事摂取量低下によるNa不足, および不適切な基準体重設定や高血糖に起因した高浸透圧血症による水過剰などが考えられた. また通常組成 (Na; 140mEq/l) の透析液による予期せぬ急速なNa補正がCPMを発症, あるいは増長した可能性が考えられた. 透析患者では電解質異常が起こりやすく, さらに透析療法自体が急速な電解質補正になりうるため, 臨床的にCPMが疑われた場合は迅速な診断かつ慎重な対処が必要であると考えられた.

透析患者の社会復帰状態を把握し, 問題点を明らかにするため, 7施設で調査を実施した. 労働年齢の維持透析患者280名を対象に, 社会復帰状況を調査し, 心理テスト (Y-G性格検査, 日本版CMI, SDS, MAS) を施行した. 結果として, 166名 (59.3%) の者が社会復帰を果たしていた. 社会復帰を果たしていない者は87名 (31.0%) であった. そのうち16名の者が, 求職の意志すらなく, 就職活動をしていなかった. 今回の調査ではこの16名の中で, 調査に協力の得られた15名を非求職群とした. また就業の意志はあるが適当な職がなく, 社会復帰を果たせないでいる者は19名であった. この中から同様の理由で15名を求職群とした. まず, 非求職群と完全社会復帰群との間で社会復帰の妨げとなりうると考えられた社会的因子 (性別・年齢・透析期間・学歴・婚姻状態) を比較した. 次に完全社会復帰群の中から非求職群と求職群に対しては各々30名ずつの社会的因子に関してのマッチドコントロール群を抽出した. その上で各心理テストの結果を, 非求職群とそのコントロール群, 求職群とそのコントロール群との間で比較した. 結果として非求職群は, 完全社会復帰群に比し, 有意に男性, 配偶者のいない者の割合が多く, 比較的透析期間が短い者が多かった. 更に低学歴も社会復帰を妨げる因子のひとつになっている可能性も示唆された. また完全社会復帰群から抽出した社会的因子をマッチさせたコントロール群との比較では, 非求職群に神経症傾向・抑うつ傾向・不安傾向の高い者の占める割合が高かった.今回の調査で, これら不安が強かったり, 意欲に問題があると考えられる社会復帰を果たしていない透析患者に対し, 社会的サポートや心理面でのケアが必要性であると思われた.