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Simulating climbing movements on a given route is important for fluent rock climbing. We investigated the effect of simulated action during rock climbing route finding on memory and exploratory movement. Participants were 12 climbers and 12 non-climbers who completed three experimental tasks: (a) a questionnaire, the Vividness of Movement Imagery Questionnaire-2 (VMIQ-2) for measuring vividness of motor imagery, (b) a memory task requiring recognition of rock climbing holds on the route, and (c) a traversing task requiring participants to climb a given route and count the number of exploratory movements made during climbing. During route finding in the memory/traversing task, we experimentally manipulated the simulative body action with motor imagery. Results showed that the simulative action affected exploratory movement during climbing, but it did not affect memorization of the holds. In the traversing task, climbers showed more exploratory movement when the simulative action was present during route finding, while the non-climbers showed an opposite trend. Moreover, for non-climbers, the effect of the simulative action was modulated by the vividness of kinesthetic imagery. We concluded that simulative body action during route finding facilitated motor imagery and spatial information processing for subsequent climbing involving exploratory movement.

In rock climbing, an appropriate motor preparation to a given climbing hold(s) is crucial for a fluent climbing. We investigated the influence of visual-tactile information in motor preparation of climbing, particularly the effect of the number of the holds and the tactile input of an actual hold was examined. Reaction times (RTs) under the priming paradigm were compared for climbers and non-climbers. Participants were asked to respond to a visual target (left or right arrow) after the presentation of a picture of a single climbing hold (Single-Prime condition

The purpose of this study is to elucidate the situational awareness of expert nurses on the process of weaning a ventilator. Participation consent was obtained from expert nurses and novice nurses who had experience weaning a ventilator. Semi-structured interviews were conducted to elucidate what information they pay attention to, and to elucidate how to collect and to assess information on the process of weaning a ventilator. Data were analyzed qualitatively comparing the skills of the 4 experts nurses with the skills of the 4 novices nurses. Expert nurses focused on both body and mental state, while novice nurses mainly focused on the body. Expert nurses judged a patient based on a few days trend. They were careful about not only oxygenation in the lungs but also oxygenation in tissues. They were also concerned that patients knew the current situation properly.

Postural control in quiet standing is often explained by a reflexive response to optical flow, the apparent motion of environmental objects in a visual scene. However, moving room experiments show that even small-amplitude body sway can evoke odd sensations or motion sickness, indicating that a consciousness factor may also be involved. Studies targeting perception of self-motion, vection, typically use rapid visual stimuli moving in a single direction to maintain a constant feeling of vection, and there are few studies of vection using low-speed sinusoidal visual stimuli similar to human pendular movement. In the present study we searched for changes in postural control during periods of vection during quiet standing. Participants (N = 19, age = 20.4 ±1.1 years) were shown dynamic visual stimuli in the form of sinusoidally expanding and contracting random dots, and the stimuli speed and visual field were manipulated. Posture was continually evaluated using Center of Pressure (CoP) measurements. Participants were also asked to report feelings of vection, both by pressing a button during the trial and through an overall rating at the end of each trial. Using repeated-measures ANOVA, we assessed changes in the CoP and vection variables between experimental conditions, as well as possible interactions between the variables. The results show that postural reaction and vection were both affected by the visual stimuli and varied with speed. The peripheral visual field was found to couple to stronger feeling of vection and better quality of postural control. However, no significant relationship between postural control and vection, nor evidence of vection interaction to the relationship between optical flow and postural control, was found. Based on our results we conclude that for postural stability during quiet standing, visual cues dominate over any potential consciousness factor arising due to vection.

Recent studies argued that unconscious visual information could access the working memory, however, it is still unclear whether the central executive could be activated unconsciously. We investigated, using a delayed match-to-sample task, whether the central executive is an unconscious process. In the experiment of the present study, participants were asked to compare the locations of two given visual targets. Both targets (or one of the two targets, depending on the experimental condition) were masked by a visual masking paradigm. The results showed an above-chance-level performance even in the condition that participants compared two unconscious targets. However, when the trials with the non-visual conscious experience of the target were removed from the analysis, the performance was no longer significantly different from chance level. Our results suggest that the central executive could be activated unconsciously by some level of stimulus signal, that is still below the threshold for a subjective report.

Representational momentum (RM) is the phenomenon that occurs when an object moves and then disappears, and the recalled final position of the object shifts in the direction of its motion. Some previous findings indicate that the magnitude of RM in early childhood is comparable to that in adulthood, whereas other findings suggest that the magnitude of RM is significantly greater in childhood than in adulthood. We examined whether the inconsistencies between previous studies could be explained by differences in the experimental tasks used in these studies. Futterweit and Beilin used a same-different judgment between the position where a moving stimulus disappeared and where a comparison stimulus reappeared (judging task), whereas Hubbard et al. used a task wherein a computer mouse cursor pointed to the position where the moving stimulus disappeared (pointing task). Three age groups ( M = 7.4, 10.7, and 22.1 years, respectively) participated in both the judging and pointing tasks in the current study. A multivariate analysis of variance with the magnitudes of RM in each task as dependent variables revealed a significant main effect for age. A one-way analysis of variance performed for each of the judging and pointing tasks also indicated a significant main effect of age. However, post hoc multiple comparisons detected a significant age effect only for the pointing task. The inconsistency between the judging and pointing tasks was discussed related to the distinct effect size of the age difference in the magnitude of RM between the two tasks.

The current study investigated whether children’s mental representations of numbers are organized spatially at the onset of formal schooling using a manual-pointing task. First-graders (N = 77) saw four numbers (1, 3, 7, 9) presented randomly in four spatial positions (extreme left, left, right, extreme right) on a touch screen. In a Go/No-Go task, children were asked to press the appearing numbers as fast and accurately as possible, but only when the numbers were “smaller” (or “larger” in a different block) than 5. Results indicated that response times were significantly affected by the spatial position in which the different numbers were presented. Response times for small numbers (1 and 3) increased and response times for large numbers (7 and 9) decreased, the more they were presented towards the right side of the screen. These findings suggested that first-graders spontaneously employed a spatial number representation that was oriented from left to right. Furthermore, this left-to-right organization could not be easily changed by priming a different direction. Our findings indicate that even young children map numbers continuously onto space.

It has long been thought that vision is the most essential factor in maintaining stable quiet standing compared to other sources (i.e., vestibular and somatosensory inputs) of information. Specifically, several vision studies on postural control have shown evidence for the importance of the visual system, particularly peripheral vision rather than central vision, and optical flow. Nevertheless, to date, no study has manipulated both visual field and optical flow concurrently. In the present study, we experimentally manipulated both the visual field (the central and peripheral visual fields) and the occurrence of optical flow during quiet standing, examining the effects of the visual field and optical flow on postural sway measured in terms of the center of pressure (CoP). Stationary random dot stimuli were presented exclusively in either the central or peripheral visual field, while the occurrence of optical flow was manipulated using a desktop (DTD) or a head-mounted (HMD) display. The optical flow that occurred while using the DTD was a function of the postural sway during quiet standing, while for the HMD, no optical flow occurred even when the body/head swayed during quiet standing. Our results show that the extent of postural sway (e.g., CoP area) was smaller when visual stimuli were presented in the peripheral visual field than that in the central visual field; this was the case while using the DTD alone, with no effects of the peripheral vision on the extent of postural sway while using the HMD. It is therefore suggested that the optical flow occurring in the peripheral visual field is essential for stable quiet standing.

Aims: Lateral body weight shifting tasks are used in rehabilitation programmes, particularly in programmes for patients with orthopaedic complaints or hemiparesis. In the present study, we aimed to identify the inherent factors that could lead to deterioration of performance in such tasks. Methodology: Twenty four healthy participants were asked to accurately load a target of one or two thirds of their body weight onto their left and right lower limbs. Results: Constant error showed a relative central tendency effect during body weight shifting. ‘Central tendency’ refers to people undershooting heavier target loads by a large extent, and undershooting lighter target loads by a small extent during body weight shifting. Overall accuracy (root-mean-squared error) and variability significantly differed for the two target loads during weight shift to the left but not during that to the right. Inter-limb weight adjustment between the upper and lower limbs deteriorated the weight adjustment for the target load. Conclusion: Having a central tendency can potentially deteriorate a person’s performance of the task both in the early (when a lighter target is used) and late (when a heavier target is used) phases of rehabilitation. Lateral differences in both overall accuracy and consistency may occur while shifting heavy (rather than light) loads, particularly when the left lower limb is affected. Heavy reliance on the upper limb while attempting accurate loading on the target limb can also deteriorate loading accuracy.

Previous research on sensorimotor synchronization has manipulated the somatosensory information received from the tapping finger to investigate how feedback from an active effector affects temporal coordination. The current study explored the role of feedback from passive body parts in the regulation of spatiotemporal motor control parameters by employing a task that required finger tapping on one's own skin at anatomical locations of varying tactile sensitivity. A motion capture system recorded participants' movements as they synchronized with an auditory pacing signal by tapping with the right index finger on either their left index fingertip (Finger/Finger) or forearm (Finger/Forearm). Results indicated that tap timing was more variable, and movement amplitude was larger and more variable, when tapping on the finger than when tapping on the less sensitive forearm. Finger/Finger tapping may be impaired relative to Finger/Forearm tapping due to ambiguity arising through overlap in neural activity associated with tactile feedback from the active and the passive limb in the former. To compensate, the control system may strengthen the assignment of tap-related feedback to the active finger by generating correlated noise in movement kinematics and tap dynamics.

We learn counting on our fingers, and the digital representation of numbers we develop is still present in adulthood [Andres M, et al. (2007) J Cognit Neurosci 19:563–576]. Such an anatomy–magnitude association establishes tight functional correspondences between fingers and numbers [Di Luca S, et al. (2006) Q J Exp Psychol 59:1648–1663]. However, it has long been known that small-to-large magnitude information is arranged left-to-right along a mental number line [Dehaene S, et al. (1993) J Exp Psychol Genet 122:371–396]. Here, we investigated touch perception to disambiguate whether number representation is embodied on the hand (“1” = thumb; “5” = little finger) or disembodied in the extrapersonal space (“1” = left; “5” = right). We directly contrasted these number representations in two experiments using a single centrally located effector (the foot) and a simple postural manipulation of the hand (palm-up vs. palm-down). We show that visual presentation of a number (“1” or “5”) shifts attention cross-modally, modulating the detection of tactile stimuli delivered on the little finger or thumb. With the hand resting palm-down, subjects perform better when reporting tactile stimuli delivered to the little finger after presentation of number “5” than number “1.” Crucially, this pattern reverses (better performance after number “1” than “5”) when the hand is in a palm-up posture, in which the position of the fingers in external space, but not their relative anatomical position, is reversed. The human brain can thus use either space- or body-based representation of numbers, but in case of competition, the former dominates the latter, showing the stronger role played by the mental number line organization.

症例は28歳, 男性. 右下腹部痛を主訴に来院. 右下腹部に著明な圧痛と反跳痛を認めた. 血液検査にてWBC14,500/μl, CRP1.32mg/dlと炎症所見を認めた. 腹部computed tomography (以下, CT) にて腫大した虫垂とその頭側にやや高吸収域の渦巻状構造を認めた. 急性虫垂炎の診断で同日緊急手術施行した. 開腹すると捻転し暗赤色調を呈した大網が虫垂を覆うように存在していた. 虫垂は腫大しており, 腹腔内には少量の淡血性の腹水を認めた. 虫垂切除術と大網部分切除術を行った. 術後経過は良好で, 第10病日に退院した.大網捻転症は比較的稀な疾患で, 器質的疾患の有無により特発性と続発性に分類される. 本症例は急性虫垂炎に続発した大網捻転症と診断した. 急性虫垂炎に続発した大網捻転症は本邦でこれまで1例しか報告されておらず, 稀な病態であると思われ, ここに報告する.

Older adults tend to overestimate their step-over ability. However, it is unclear as to whether this is caused by inaccurate self-estimation of physical ability or inaccurate perception of height. We, therefore, measured both visual height perception ability and self-estimation of step-over ability among young and older adults. Forty-seven older and 16 young adults performed a height perception test (HPT) and a step-over test (SOT). Participants visually judged the height of vertical bars from distances of 7 and 1 m away in the HPT, then self-estimated and, subsequently, actually performed a step-over action in the SOT. The results showed no significant difference between young and older adults in visual height perception. In the SOT, young adults tended to underestimate their step-over ability, whereas older adults either overestimated their abilities or underestimated them to a lesser extent than did the young adults. Moreover, visual height perception was not correlated with the self-estimation of step-over ability in both young and older adults. These results suggest that the self-overestimation of step-over ability which appeared in some healthy older adults may not be caused by the nature of visual height perception, but by other factor(s), such as the likely age-related nature of self-estimation of physical ability, per se.

A 50 kDa protease designated as VPP1 was purified from the culture supernatant of a clinical strain of Vibrio parahaemolyticus by ammonium sulfate fractionation, Sephacryl S-200 HR gel filtration and Fractogel EMD TMAE 650 ion-exchange chromatography. VPP1 was inhibited by EDTA, EGTA and serine protease inhibitors, suggesting that it is a calcium-dependent serine protease. N-terminal amino acid sequence of VPP1 was quite similar to that of V. metschnikovii protease and antibody against VPP1 inhibited the activity of V. metschnikovii protease, suggesting the similarity of the two proteases. It was demonstrated that VPP1 or its related protease widely distribute in not only V. parahaemolyticus but also V. alginolyticus.

1986年9月から2000年5月までの胃癌切除例1,388例を対象とし,縫合不全群56例と対照群1,332例に分けて臨床病理学的因子の比較を行った.さらに縫合不全群においては治療経過,ロジスティック回帰分析による重症化の危険因子の検討を行った.縫合不全群と対照群の比較において胃切除術式,進行度,合併切除,術中出血量で有意差が認められた.また縫合不全重症化の危険因子の解析では有意性は認められないものの,併存疾患の存在と術中出血量が多いことの関与が推定された.重症症例では,治療期間の有意な延長と開腹ドレナージなどの侵襲的な治療を必要とした.重症症例における死亡例3例は,いずれも膵液漏を併発し,腹腔内出血を起こした症例であった.胃癌手術後消化管縫合不全の危険因子として胃全摘術,進行症例,合併切除,術中出血多量例が考えられた.

高齢者胃癌治療では,根治性の追求とともに合併症や早期他病死を避けるための侵襲の軽減が求められる.今回われわれは治癒切除術が施行された80歳以上の高齢者胃癌49症例を対象として術後予後因子の検討を行った.手術後5年以内の死亡は原病死6例,他病死10例の計16例であった.原病死例では,癌進行度と胃切除範囲が有意な予後要因であったが,リンパ節郭清度の影響は認められなかった.他病死例においては,進行度と術後合併症の有無が有意であり,術後合併症の発症は術中出血量との相関が認められたが,術前諸因子から術後合併症の発症を予測することは困難と考えられた.以上より,進行度が原病死,他病死の双方に影響を有する一方で,リンパ節郭清度の影響は認められず,術中出血量が術後合併症の発症に影響を与えていることから,高齢者胃癌外科治療では必要最小限の切除が望ましいものと考えられた.

We investigated the effects of pursuit effort against the optokinetic nystagmus (OKN) on induced motion (IM) by measuring vertical IM and eye movements. Participants viewed an inducing stimulus (a random dot pattern) moving either upward or downward at the velocity of 10 or 40 °/s. A horizontally moving target (a single dot) was then presented within the inducing stimulus. Participants were asked to pursue the target and report the perceived slant of the target motion path by using a joystick. The results showed that IM magnitude was larger with an upward stimulation than with a downward stimulation. IM magnitude was also larger at 40 °/s than at 10 °/s. The results of eye movements prior to the target presentation showed that OKN was elicited more effectively with an upward stimulation than with a downward stimulation and at 40 °/s than at 10 °/s. OKN was markedly reduced when the target was presented within the inducing stimulus. These results support the oculomotor theory that IM magnitude reflects pursuit effort against OKN in response to an inducing stimulus.

Objective Self-overestimation of step-over ability among older adults may result in a potential fall risk. However, the behavioral causal factor(s) of older adults’ self-overestimation is unclear. We examined whether older adults’ overestimation of step-over ability was mediated by an inactive lifestyle and/or poor executive function. Methods A sample of 194 community-dwelling older adults was assigned to either a high (HG, once a day or more) or low (LG, every 2–3 days or less) frequency of going outdoors group. Executive function was determined by the Trail-Making Test (TMT). Both the HG and LG participants performed Step-Over Tests (SOT) in two ways: self-estimation of step-over ability and the actual step-over task. During the self-estimation task, participants observed the horizontal bar at a distance of 7 m and predicted the self-estimated maximum height (EH) of successful SOT trials. The motor task was then performed, determining the actual maximum height (AH) of successful trials. Results A total of 36.1% of LG participants failed to successfully perform SOT trials at their EH (i.e., overestimation), whereas only 11.3% of HG participants failed. A multiple linear regression analysis showed that SOT overestimation was associated with an inactive lifestyle (low frequency of going outdoors) but not with executive function. Analyses of fall experience showed that both executive function and lifestyle significantly correlated with SOT overestimation among fallers, whereas only lifestyle was significantly correlated among non-fallers. Conclusion Our results suggest that an inactive lifestyle is a possible correlate of SOT overestimation among older adults, while executive function further influenced overestimation only among fallers.

We investigated the effects of the application of wastewater sludges on microbial degradation of crude oil. the experiments were carried out in four beach simulating tanks. In each tank, filled with gravel and seawater, crude oil was added on the surface of seawater. Dehydrated-wastewater sludge, liquid-wastewater sludge and synthetic fertilizers were added in tanks A, D and C, respectively. In tanks A and D, sharp increases in the bacterial number and the oxygen consumption occurred immediately while the increases in tank C was slower. The concentration of nitrogen was high during first few weeks and later decreased in tanks A and D. The synthetic nitrogen fertilizer was maintaining the nitrogen concentration above 1 mg l−1 for the whole experimental period. These observations indicated that the effect of the synthetic nitrogen fertilizer was more enduring than those of the liquid and dehydrated sludges. However, higher concentrations of phosphorous were supplied by both the liquid and dehydrated sludges...

17α,21β-Hopane is used as an internal marker to evaluate the biodegradation and/or weathering of petroleum products. In this study, vanadium, the most abundant heavy metal in crude oil, was investi...

Peutz-Jeghers (PJ) 症候群で小腸ポリープが悪性化し, 進行癌へと進展したと考えられる1例を経験した. 症例は27歳の男性で, 主訴は食思不振, 下腹部痛. PJ症候群と診断のもとに, 3歳と14歳時に結腸および小腸ポリープ切除. 15歳時, 癒着性イレウスに対し癒着剥離術を施行. 小腸造影にてTreitz靱帯の近傍に狭窄が存在し, その口側および肛門側にそれぞれ径4cmと3cmの陰影欠損を認めた. 小腸腫瘍の診断にて開腹術を施行した. Treitz靱帯の肛門側に5×6cm大の潰瘍ともなう不整な隆起性病変を全周性に認めた. その腫瘍に接して口側, 肛門側にそれぞれ径4cmと3cmのポリープが存在した. 空腸部分切除術を施行した.組織学的診断は高分化腺癌で, PJポリープの過形成の腺管群と癌との混在が認められた. 核異型を呈する腺管群は漿膜下層まで浸潤し, さらに壁在リンパ節に転移を認めた. PJ症候群の癌化例でリンパ節転移を認める進行癌はきわめて少なく, ポリープの癌化を検討する上で貴重な症例と考えられ, 報告する.

先天性AT-III欠乏症を伴う広範な静脈血栓症が誘因となり腸閉塞をきたし, 開腹手術および保存的治療により軽快した症例を経験したので報告する. 症例は38歳の男性で, 平成7年1月2日に他院にて急性腹症の診断のもと開腹され, 特発性腸間膜静脈血栓症による小腸壊死に対し空腸部分切除術が施行された. 退院後, 嘔吐が出現し, 近医にて腸閉塞と診断され保存的に治療されていたが軽快せず, さらに門脈血栓症が認められたため, 3月20日に当科に転院となった. 精査にて先天性AT-III欠乏症と診断, また小腸に強度の狭窄を認めたため保存的治療を行いつつ, 5月10日に腸閉塞解除術を施行したが血栓症の増悪なく, 7月30日に軽快退院した.本症例は先天性AT-III欠乏症が基盤にあり, 腹部の広範な血栓症を伴っていたが, AT-III製剤やヘパリン, ワーファリンの投与により術後血栓症を回避し救命しえた貴重な1例である.

The biodegradation of four different crude oil samples, namely, Arabian light, Dubai, Maya, and Shengli, by Acinetobacter sp. T4 and by a microbial consortium called SM8 was examined. SM8 exhibited higher activity than Acinetobacter for the biodegradation of all four crude oil samples. The degree of biodegradation of crude oil components differed according to the crude oil, the saturated fraction being more susceptible to biodegradation than the aromatic fraction in all the crude oil samples. The extent of biodegradation by Acinetobacter and SM8 was found to be in the order of Arabian light > Dubai ≥ Maya = Shengli; the crude oil samples with higher API gravity being more susceptible to biodegradation. Saturated compounds of smaller molecular weight were preferentially degraded by both cultures. Acinetobacter could not degrade polycyclic aromatic compounds in the crude oil samples such as (alkyl)naphthalenes, (alkyl)phenanthrenes, (alkyl)fluorenes, and (alkyl)dibenzothiophenes. However, this strain was ca...

Publisher Summary This chapter examines the link between number and the spatial biases observed in spatial neglect. Right-brain-damaged patients affected by left unilateral neglect are characterized by a pathological attentional bias to the right side of space. This left-sided deficit encompasses eye and head deviations, visual, somatosensory and auditory sensory processing, action initiation and realization, and mental representations. The spatial cueing effect arising in the external space coordinates was present irrespective of the emphasis in the instructions either concerning fingers or side of space. Neglect patient populations manifested a clear-cut double dissociation. Some of the patients displayed very severe neglect on the bisection of visual lines and normal performance for the bisection of number intervals. The increasing rightward error displayed by D participants in the bisection of large 7-unit intervals located to the “left” side of decades offers another example of the apparent similarity between bisection behavior in visual and number space. Another point that needs careful consideration when one discusses the associations and dissociations between numerical and spatial coding that can be observed in the healthy brain is whether the influence of numerical cues on spatial processing is as strong as the reciprocal influence of spatial cues on number processing.

The synthesis of optically active phosphatidylcholines (D- and L-4) containing two of the same fatty acid moieties in a molecule is described. Optically pure D-enantiomers (D-4) were obtained from 2, 3-di-O-acyl-sn-glycerol (D-1) in high yield by phosphorylation with phosphorus oxychloride and subsequent treatment with choline tosylate (11a). L-Enantiomers (L-4) were also prepared in a similar manner from 1, 2-di-O-acyl-sn-glycerol (L-1). The whole procedure is easy and useful for the synthesis of enantiomeric phosphatidylcholines.

International audience; Congenital amusia is a neurogenetic disorder of music processing that is currently ascribed to a deficit in pitch processing. A recent study challenges this view and claims the disorder might arise as a consequence of a general spatial-processing deficit. Here, we assessed spatial processing abilities in two independent samples of individuals with congenital amusia by using line bisection tasks (Experiment 1) and a mental rotation task (Experiment 2). Both amusics and controls showed the classical spatial effects on bisection performance and on mental rotation performance, and amusics and controls did not differ from each other. These results indicate that the neurocognitive impairment of congenital amusia does not affect the processing of space.

We conducted two experiments to investigate whether the motor preparation of manual aiming to a visual target is affected by either the physical characteristics (size or luminance contrast) or spatial characteristics (location) of the target. Reaction time (RT) of both finger lifting (ie stimulus-detection time) and manual aiming (ie movement-triggering time) to the onset of the target was measured. The difference of RT (DRT) between two tasks (ie the difference of task complexity) was examined to clarify the temporal characteristics of manual aiming per se during visuomotor integration. Results show classical characteristics: RT decreased as either the target size or luminance contrast increased. Furthermore, the task-complexity and target-location factors significantly interacted with each other, where the aiming RT was longer than the finger-lifting RT and the effects of target location on RT differed for each task. However, the task factor did not interact with either the size or luminance-contrast factor, implying that the motor preparation of manual aiming is associated with the spatial characteristics rather than the physical characteristics of the target. Inspection of DRT revealed that the time needed for motor preparation for an ipsilateral target was significantly shorter than that for a contralateral target. This was the case both for the left and for the right hand. Foveal targets required longer processing time, implying a disadvantageous function of motor preparation for the gazed target. The left-hand superiority for the target appearing in the left visual field was also observed. Such lateralised effect and left-hand advantage to the left visual field in manual aiming suggest that visuospatial information processing is activated during the preparation of aiming action, with faster processing in the right hemisphere.

It is well known that stimuli such as numerals (small vs large) and auditory pitches (low vs high) have spatial characteristics, and that responses to such stimuli are biased by the mental representation of their magnitude. Walsh (2003) has argued that any spatially and action-coded magnitude will yield a relationship between magnitude and space. Here we investigated the spatial representation of 'time' using speeded responses to the onset timing (early vs late) of a probe stimulus following periodic auditory clicks. Participants pressed one of the two response keys depending on whether the timing of a given probe was earlier or later than expected based on the preceding clicks. The results showed that left-side responses to early onset timing were faster than those to late onset timing, whereas right-side responses to late onsets were faster than those to early onsets when the response keys were aligned horizontally. Such a time-response congruity effect was not observed with the vertical alignment of responses. These results suggest that time is represented from left to right along the horizontal axis in space. The existence of a 'mental time line' in space and the spatial-temporal association of response codes (STEARC) effect are discussed.

Three experiments were conducted to investigate the role of central and peripheral vision (CV and PV) in postural control. In Experiment 1, either the central or peripheral visual field were selectively stimulated using a circular random dot pattern that was either static or alternated at 5 Hz. Center of foot pressure (CoP) was used to examine postural sway during quiet standing under both CV and PV conditions. The results showed that, when the visual stimulus was presented in the periphery, the CoP area decreased and more so in the anterior-posterior (AP) than in the medio-lateral (ML) direction, indicating a characteristic directional specificity. There was no significant difference between the static and dynamic (alternating) conditions. Experiment 2 investigated the directional specificity of body sway found in Experiment 1 by having the trunk either be faced toward the stimulus display or perpendicularly to it, with the head always facing the display. The results showed that the stabilizing effect of peripheral vision was present in the direction of stimulus observation (i.e., the head/gaze direction), irrespective of trunk orientation. This suggested that head/gaze direction toward the stimulus presentation, rather than a biomechanical factor like greater mobility of the ankle joint in AP direction than in ML direction, was essential to postural stability. Experiment 3 further examined whether the stabilizing effect of peripheral vision found in Experiments 1 and 2 was caused because more dots (500) were presented as visual cues to the peripheral visual field than to the central visual field (20 dots) by presenting the same number of dots (20) in both conditions. It was found that, in spite of the equal number of dots, the postural sway amplitudes were larger for the central vision conditions than for the peripheral vision conditions. In conclusion, the present study showed that peripheral rather than central vision contributes to maintaining a stable standing posture, with postural sway being influenced more in the direction of stimulus observation, or head/gaze direction, than in the direction of trunk orientation, which suggests that peripheral vision operates primarily in a viewer-centered frame of reference characterized by the head/gaze direction rather than in a body-centered frame of reference characterized by the anatomical planes of the body.

The existence of a spatial component in the representation of number magnitude has been repeatedly supported by the demonstration that the left hand responds faster to smaller numbers, whereas the right hand responds faster to larger numbers. These results support the view that the 'mental number line' is oriented such that smaller numbers are associated with the left side of space while larger numbers are associated with the right side. We investigated whether the link between spatial and number processing arises from a continuous or categorical mapping between space and number representations. The investigation was designed to study all aspects of the motor act, including both planning and execution phases. For this purpose we measured reaction times (RTs), movement times (MTs), spatial accuracy, and endpoint pressure of manual aiming, while subjects reached with the right hand towards the location of a visual digit target. Five different digits were equiprobably presented at five positions along the horizontal axis. A GO/NO-GO choice task paradigm was used to ensure that digit parity (i.e., odd/even) was being processed. Analyses of MT, accuracy, and pressure data showed no digit effects. However, two number-related effects were observed on RTs. First, shorter RTs were obtained for smaller digits independent of target location, despite the use of the right hand. Second, an interaction was observed between target location and number magnitude whereby relative RTs were shortest when there was a congruity between target magnitude and location. These results imply that motor preparation is contaminated both by the direct activation of number magnitude and by the congruity between the spatial location of a target number and its magnitude. We conclude that continuous mapping intervenes between mental number representation and physical space.

This paper describes a model for haptizing wind on a weather map. To design the model, we examined the human sensory scale to represent wind speed and direction with appropriate haptic stimuli, and examined parameters of the stimulus that allow a user to easily recognize changes in wind speed and direction. The results of these experiments show that vibration frequency can represent wind speed while a constant reactive force represents direction. The model solves a problem users of reactive force-only systems have difficulty identifying direction when the force is small due to light wind. Based on the model, we have developed a prototype weather information system with visual and haptic information.

The synthesis of optically active phosphatidylcholines (D- and L-4) containing two of the same fatty acid moieties in a molecule is described. Optically pure D-enantiomers (D-4) were obtained from 2, 3-di-O-acyl-sn-glycerol (D-1) in high yield by phosphorylation with phosphorus oxychloride and subsequent treatment with choline tosylate (11a). L-Enantiomers (L-4) were also prepared in a similar manner from 1, 2-di-O-acyl-sn-glycerol (L-1). The whole procedure is easy and useful for the synthesis of enantiomeric phosphatidylcholines.

Triarylsulfonium bromides were synthesized by the reaction of diaryl sulfoxides with aryl Grignard reagents in the presence of TMSCI followed by treatment with HBr aqueous solution. Triarylsulfonium bromides bearing threeidentical substituents on sulfur atom were synthesized by the treatment of dimethyl sulfite or thionyl chloride with 5 equivalents of Grignard reagent in the presence of TMSCI.