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We report results of experiments using human vocal commands to investigate how well a Steller sea lion (Eumetopias jubatus) can discriminate different sounds. The participant, Hama, a 12-year-old female at Kinosaki Marine World, Japan, was raised by four trainers. We investigate Hama’s ability to discriminate 10 vocal commands (e.g. Iya-iya, Okay etc.) used in daily performances in two experiments: 1, commands given directly to the sea lion by trainers, but out of her sight; and 2, vocal commands given to the sea lion by trainers, but using recorded commands over a loudspeaker. In the experiment 1, Hama was able to discriminate all 10 commands, but her accuracy to discriminate one command was significantly lower than others (p < .05). In the  experiment 2, Hama was able to discriminate all but one command; accuracy rates among commands were variable, but the accuracy rate for one was significantly lower than the others, and those for three commands were significantly higher than others(p < .05). These experiments demonstrate that Hama can discriminate most commands based on their acoustic properties, regardless of which of four trainers spoke them out of her sight or if they were relayed from a recording. This ability suggest that the Steller sea lion E. jubatus might use sound for their own complex communication.

Stomata-small pores generally found on the leaves of plants-control gas exchange between plant and the atmosphere. Elucidating the mechanism that underlies such control through the regulation of stomatal opening/closing is important to understand how plants regulate photosynthesis and tolerate against drought. However, up-to-date, molecular components and their function involved in stomatal regulation are not fully understood. We challenged such problem through a chemical genetic approach by isolating and characterizing synthetic molecules that influence stomatal movement. Here, we describe that a small chemical collection, prepared during the development of C-H amination reactions, lead to the discovery of a Stomata Influencing Molecule (SIM); namely, a sulfonimidated oxazole that inhibits stomatal opening. The starting molecule SIM1 was initially isolated from screening of compounds that inhibit light induced opening of dayflower stomata. A range of SIM molecules were rapidly accessed using our state-of-the-art C-H amination technologies. This enabled an efficient structure-activity relationship (SAR) study, culminating in the discovery of a sulfonamidated oxazole derivative (SIM*) having higher activity and enhanced specificity against stomatal regulation. Biological assay results have shed some light on the mode of action of SIM molecules within the cell, which may ultimately lead to drought tolerance-conferring agrochemicals through the control of stomatal movement.

Hydroxyurea (HU) is a chemotherapeutic agent used for the treatment of myeloproliferative disorders such as chronic myeloid leukemia, polycythemia vera, and essential thrombocytosis. We describe a 69-year-old man who had essential thrombocytosis and developed amyopathic dermatomyositis after long-term HU therapy. He presented with Gottron papules and heliotrope erythema. The former has been described in all cases of HU-induced dermatomyositis; the latter has been seen in a few cases of that disorder.

Precisely evaluating the source, path, and site terms in a broadband frequency range is indispensable for quantitatively predicting strong motions. We conducted a generalized spectral inversion of strong motion in Japan to delineate both the spectral amplitude and phase characteristics for statistical Green's functions. To predict ground motion from future megathrust earthquakes, we also need to model a kinematic source with a stochastic representation of the slip and rupture velocities on the fault surface. In this fundamental study, we first reported the basic features of statistical Green's functions used for summation. We then demonstrated the construction of a kinematic source with distinctive strong-motion-generation areas with spatially random slip and rupture velocity variations. After the summation of statistical Green's functions following the constructed kinematic source, we found that the peak ground accelerations and peak ground velocities of synthetics for the Mw8.2 1944 Tonankai earthquake are in good agreement with those of the well-established empirical formula in Japan because the medians of the synthetic values are well within the average plus/minus one standard deviation of the formula. Based on the simulation results of conducted parametric studies, we observed relatively small but meaningful effects of random slip distribution, as well as relatively small effects of random rupture velocity perturbation. In conclusion, our implementation of the complex source model and the empirically obtained statistical Green's function used as an element source can be a viable combination for broadband (0.1 to 20 Hz) strong-motion simulations, realistic in terms of the amplitude and duration, without any hybrid scheme. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: The coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic significantly affected the lives of Japanese collegiate men's basketball players. Purpose: To describe the incidence of lower extremity injuries in Japanese collegiate men's basketball during the COVID-19 pandemic and examine the effects of the pandemic on injury patterns. Study Design: Descriptive epidemiological study. Methods: Using data from a surveillance project of the Department of Medicine and Science of the Kanto Collegiate Basketball Federation, the authors included data from 6 men's basketball teams during the 2020-21 and 2021-22 seasons (11 team seasons). Injury rates per 1000 athlete-exposures (AEs) were calculated according to injury type, location, and frequency. Injury burden was estimated by multiplying the injury rate by the mean days lost. Injuries from the 2020-21 to 2021-22 seasons were compared with those before the pandemic (2013-14 to 2019-20 seasons) using injury rate ratios (IRRs), with significant differences indicated when the 95% CI did not include 1.0. Results: In total, 135 lower extremity injuries were reported during 27,249 AEs. The overall injury rate of the 2020-21 to 2021-22 seasons was significantly higher than that of the 2013-14 to 2019-20 seasons (IRR, 1.37; 95% CI, 1.12-1.67). Lateral ankle sprains (IRR, 1.37; 95% CI, 1.02-1.86), hamstring strains (IRR, 2.86; 95% CI, 1.34-6.12), jumper's knee (IRR, 2.68; 95% CI, 1.13-6.37), and stress fractures of the proximal fifth metatarsal (IRR, 7.16; 95% CI, 1.31-39.08) were significantly higher during the 2020-21 to 2021-22 seasons compared with the 2013-14 to 2019-20 seasons. Conclusion: The rate of lower extremity injuries increased significantly in Japanese collegiate men's basketball players during the COVID-19 pandemic. The results of this study emphasize the importance of optimal screening and specific loads for injury prevention when detraining periods are anticipated. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Dissolved organic matter (DOM) needs to be characterized todetermine the ability of a water treatment unit to reduce organic matter andits relationship to the levels of chlorine required for disinfection. Weinvestigated water quality parameters, including DOM, in a waterpurification plant and distribution pipes located in central Japan. Thedissolved organic carbon (DOC) concentration decreased from 0.73 mg/Lin raw water to 0.50 mg/L in purified water by conventional treatmentprocesses. The DOC of purified water decreased slightly in the pipesdownstream of the plant. The three-dimensional excitation-emission matrixfluorescence spectra showed some specific peaks for humic-like substancesand protein-like substances in all water samples, and the compositions ofDOM in purified water were close to those in raw water. However, therewas a peak of protein-like substances in purified and returned water, whichwas not observed for raw water. The fluorescence intensities of humic-likesubstances in purified water decreased downstream of the plant, while thefluorescence intensities of protein-like substances increased in the pipes. The measured molecular weight distributions of DOM in water presentedsome specific peaks, and DOM with a smaller molecular weight was noteasily removed by water treatment processes. There were positiverelationships between decreases in the intensities of some peaks andresidual chlorine decay.

Under hypothetical and idealized conditions, the horizontal site amplification factor (HSAF) is defined as the ratio of the horizontal Fourier amplitude spectrum (FAS) at a point on the Earth's surface with respect to the horizontal FAS at the identical location but on the outcropping seismological bedrock. The HSAF reflects the profile of local sedimentary soils and weathered rock formations, indicating site effects. In most cases, such an idealized HSAF is difficult to measure directly. Thus, quantitatively estimating a HSAF value is a crucial task in strong‐motion prediction over the last century. Fortunately, many strong‐motion stations have been constructed throughout Japan, facilitating the characterization of HSAFs down to seismological bedrock at more than 1600 observational sites by the generalized inversion technique (GIT). First, this study reported the similarity distribution of the HSAF and the horizontal‐to‐vertical spectral ratio of earthquakes (HVSRE). Subsequently, we proposed a hybrid method from a novel aspect for estimating HSAF in terms of the observed similarity distribution and the vertical amplification correction function (VACF) proposed previously. Compared with the direct use of HVSRE for substituting HSAF, the hybrid method proposed herein demonstrated an improvement of greater than 30% in terms of the residuals between estimated HSAFs and those separated from observations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]