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Areas at which seabirds forage intensively can be discriminated by tracking the individuals' at‐sea movements. However, such tracking data may not accurately reflect the birds' exact foraging locations. In addition to tracking data, gathering information on the dynamic body acceleration of individual birds may refine inferences on their foraging activity. Our aim was to classify the foraging behaviors of surface‐feeding seabirds using data on their body acceleration and use this signal to discriminate areas where they forage intensively. Accordingly, we recorded the foraging movements and body acceleration data from seven and ten black‐tailed gulls Larus crassirostris in 2017 and 2018, respectively, using GPS loggers and accelerometers. By referring to video footage of flying and foraging individuals, we were able to classify flying (flapping flight, gliding and hovering), foraging (surface plunging, hop plunging and swimming) and maintenance (drifting, preening, etc.) behaviors using the speed, body angle and cycle and amplitude of body acceleration of the birds. Foraging areas determined from acceleration data corresponded roughly with sections of low speed and area‐restricted searching (ARS) identified from the GPS tracks. However, this study suggests that the occurrence of foraging behaviors may be overestimated based on low‐speed trip sections, because birds may exhibit long periods of reduced movement devoted to maintenance. Opposite, the ARS‐based approach may underestimate foraging behaviors since birds can forage without conducting an ARS. Therefore, our results show that the combined use of accelerometers and GPS tracking helps to adequately determine the important foraging areas of black‐tailed gulls. Our approach may contribute to better discriminate ecologically or biologically significant areas in marine environments.

An optical phase‐sensitive amplifier (PSA) has the potential of low‐noise optical amplification. A frequency non‐degenerate PSA (ND‐PSA) can amplify arbitrary modulation formats including higher‐order QAM. The ND‐PSA requires a co‐propagating phase conjugated light (idler light) that has been conventionally created with an optical phase conjugator at the transmitter side. We propose a transmitter configuration using simultaneous signal generation of both a signal and its idler by double‐sideband modulation for transmission systems with ND‐PSAs. The proposed scheme provides a simple configuration with a single Mach–Zehnder amplitude modulator without optically creating the idler light. We performed experiments using 16QAM, 32QAM, and probabilistically shaped 256QAM signals. As a result, a phase‐sensitive amplification with each modulation format was successfully demonstrated using the proposed transmitter configuration.

The gravity disturbance caused by groundwater is derived based on hydrological physics by solving nonlinear hydrological diffusion equations for three‐dimensional and temporal groundwater distributions. The gravity disturbance is then estimated by the spatial integral of the groundwater distributions. This approach aims to resolve the problems of previous methods for the correction of groundwater disturbances in gravity data, such as instrumental drift of relative gravimeters, empirical estimation of gravity assuming a linear gravity response to precipitation, and the use of lower‐dimensional water transfer models. The disturbance estimated using the proposed model is consistent with the observed gravity change at Asama Volcano in Central Japan during the rainy summer of 2006. The model reproduces the rapid increase and subsequent gradual decrease in gravity following rainfall events. The water mass within 150 m of the gravimeter is shown to dominate the observed gravity change during precipitation. It is also demonstrated that the use of adequately representative soil parameters is essential in order to accurately estimate the groundwater distributions and consequent gravity variations. This study shows that correcting for hydrological disturbances requires a more sophisticated model of water movements, particularly during heavy rainfall.

Recent sea-surface temperature warming may allow poleward range expansions of warm-water coral species into temperate areas. In Japan, Acropora solitaryensis showed a poleward range expansion to Tateyama, on the southern tip of the Boso Peninsula, based on the historical occurrence records and recent surveys.

Abstract This article deals with the sound of light or medium-preloaded ball splines operating at a certain linear velocity. Experimental results showed that the sound waveforms of the ball splines are pulse-like with ball passage period T p, and sound peaks f 1-f 8 and f 1-f 7 appear in the 20 kHz range sound spectra of the light- and medium-preloaded ball splines, respectively. A supplemental experiment showed that the main cause of the ball spline sound is the collision between the ball and the spline shaft or spline nut at the entrance of the load zone. The measured frequencies of the sound peaks nearly matched the natural radial-bending frequencies of the spline shaft or nut obtained by finite-element method (FEM). This means that the sound peaks are caused by the natural radial-bending vibrations of the spline shaft and nut. Finally, based on the experimental and FEM results, the sound-generating mechanism of the ball splines has been elucidated.

Stellate ganglion blockade (SGB) with a local anesthetic increases muscle sympathetic nerve activity in the tibial nerve in humans. However, whether this sympathetic excitation in the tibial nerve is due to a sympathetic blockade in the neck itself, or due to infiltration of a local anesthetic to adjacent nerves including the vagus nerve remains unknown. To rule out one mechanism, we examined the effects of cervical sympathetic trunk transection on renal sympathetic nerve activity (RSNA) in anesthetized rats. Seven rats were anesthetized with intraperitoneal urethane. RSNA together with arterial blood pressure and heart rate were recorded for 15 min before and 30 min after left cervical sympathetic trunk transection. The baroreceptor unloading RSNA obtained by decreasing arterial blood pressure with administration of sodium nitroprusside was also measured. Left cervical sympathetic trunk transection did not have any significant effects on RSNA, baroreceptor unloading RSNA, arterial blood pressure, and heart rate. These data suggest that there was no compensatory increase in RSNA when cervical sympathetic trunk was transected and that the increase in sympathetic nerve activity in the tibial nerve during SGB in humans may result from infiltration of a local anesthetic to adjacent nerves rather than a sympathetic blockade in the neck itself.

Patients with breast cancer undergoing chemotherapy experience significant adverse effects, including fatigue, nausea, and taste alterations, leading to malnutrition in 40% of patients. Traditional nutritional counseling has shown limited effectiveness in addressing these challenges during treatment. This study aimed to evaluate the impact of a structured meal kit intervention on quality of life and metabolomic profiles in patients with breast cancer during perioperative anthracycline and taxane-based chemotherapy. This single-center phase 2 randomized crossover trial will enroll 20 patients with breast cancer scheduled for perioperative chemotherapy at Jikei University Hospital between October 2024 and October 2025. Patients will be randomized 1:1 to receive a meal kit intervention either during the first or second 3-month period of chemotherapy. The intervention consists of weekly deliveries of preportioned ingredients with dietitian-designed recipes (one 2-serving meal kit during chemotherapy weeks, two during nonchemotherapy weeks). The primary endpoint is the change in the EORTC QLQ-C30 (European Organisation for Research and Treatment of Cancer Quality of Life Questionnaire Core 30) \"appetite loss\" domain score. Secondary endpoints include changes in total EORTC QLQ-C30 score, plasma metabolome profiles, body composition, nutritional status, and chemotherapy completion rate. Data will be collected at baseline, crossover (12 wk), and study completion (24 wk). The study was funded in March 2024. Data collection began on March 26, 2025, and as of manuscript submission, 11 participants have been recruited out of the planned 20 participants. Data analysis has not yet commenced, and results are expected to be published in Spring 2026. This trial will provide evidence for the effectiveness of a meal kit intervention in supporting patients with breast cancer during chemotherapy. The findings may help establish evidence-based standards for nutritional support in oncology care.

The zinc concentration in seminal plasma from 98 infertile male patients and 8 fertile males was measured. The zinc concentration of the seminal plasma in azoospermic and oligoasthenozoospermic patients was significantly lower than that in the other groups (each, p<0.05 ). The seminal plasma zinc concentration in asthenozoospermic males was significantly higher than that in any other group (p<0.05). There was a positive correlation of zinc concentration with sperm concentration (r=0.33, p<0.05) and with sperm motility (r=0.22, p<0.05), while there was no correlation with sperm morphology. A correlation between zinc concentration and plasma testosterone concentration was observed (r=0.24, p<0.05). It is concluded that excessively high zinc concentration is apparently related to defective motility in asthenozoospermic patients, even though adequate seminal plasma content of the element is required for normal sperm function.

The problem in water quality has become obvious in the coastal waters of Japan since about 1970. Some areas developed an unpleasant odour and a lot of fish died in many areas where industrial activity was flourishing. The monitoring of these areas started together with missions designed to deal with this water pollution. As a result, the water quality recovered to a constant or decreased level but fishery resources have not recovered to a level to support the Japanese demand for consumption. Was there a problem in the ideal way of restriction and monitor that focused on the water quality? We propose a \\“Health Examination of the sea” as a new oceanic environmental diagnosis to monitor and evaluate water quality. This diagnosis focuses on biological production and the purification ability of the sea. The \\“Health Examination of the sea” method covers ecosystem stability and smoothness of material cycling. This method was devised to understand at an early stage trends in environmental deterioration by using a standard which focuses on the range of variation in the environment parameter of each area, and not a standard that uses an absolute value. In effect, this new evaluation method incorporates the concept of preventive medicine. Our objective is to clarify the points of difference between the established monitoring method to redress water pollution, and to introduce a new approach to marine environment protection.

This study examines histologically the degeneration and subsequent regeneration processes of human hair follicles whose bulb is severely damaged. Human scalp hair follicles were isolated and grafted onto immunodeficient mice after their bulb was amputated. On day 14, thickening and corrugation of the vitreous membrane, apoptosis of follicular keratinocytes, and regression of the lower portion of the follicles were observed. By day 20, mesenchymal cells had accumulated around the lower end of the follicles. From day 14 through 50, the follicular regression and apoptosis continued, and between days 30 and 40 the follicles became maximally shortened, and the vitreous membrane disappeared. By day 50 the lower end of the follicles had become cup-shaped, and the cup surrounded an aggregate of mesenchymal cells that corresponded to the dermal papilla. By day 60, all the grafted follicles had developed into anagen VI follicles, and the apoptosis had ceased. These results indicate that human scalp hair follicles whose bulb is completely destroyed enter into dystrophic telogen after restoration of the dermal papilla, then into anagen, and that the duration of the dystrophic telogen is shorter than that of the normal hair cycle.