Waseda University

About: Waseda University is a education organization based out in Tokyo, Japan. It is known for research contribution in the topics: Catalysis & Large Hadron Collider. The organization has 24220 authors who have published 46859 publications receiving 837855 citations. The organization is also known as: Waseda daigaku & Sōdai.

Homogeneous precipitation of uniform hydrotalcite particles

Abstract: Hydrotalcite was synthesized by a homogeneous precipitation method utilizing urea hydrolysis. When the homogeneous aqueous solutions containing magnesium chloride, aluminum chloride, and urea were heated, hydrotalcite particles were obtained. Scanning electron micrographs revealed that the products were well-defined hydrotalcite particles. The particle sizes have been controlled from ca. 2 to 20 μm by the reaction temperature and the concentration of the reactants. The particle morphology of hydrotalcite was retained even after thermal decomposition, showing the possible application of the present well-defined hydrotalcite particles for the preparation of layered double hydroxide intercalation compounds by the reconstruction method.

Electronic structure of monolayer hexagonal boron nitride physisorbed on metal surfaces.

Abstract: By using angle-resolved electron spectroscopic methods, we have investigated a monolayer film of hexagonal boron nitride ($h$-BN) epitaxially formed on Ni(111), Pd(111), and Pt(111). The electronic structure of the monolayer $h$-BN is almost independent of the substrate, which is in striking contrast with the case of monolayer graphite [A. Nagashima et al., Phys. Rev. B 50, 4756 (1994)]. The comparison of the present data with those for typical physisorbed systems indicates physisorption of the BN film.

Jet energy measurement and its systematic uncertainty in proton-proton collisions at s√=7 TeV with the ATLAS detector

Abstract: The jet energy scale (JES) and its systematic uncertainty are determined for jets measured with the ATLAS detector using proton-proton collision data with a centre-of-mass energy of [Formula: see text] TeV corresponding to an integrated luminosity of [Formula: see text][Formula: see text]. Jets are reconstructed from energy deposits forming topological clusters of calorimeter cells using the anti-[Formula: see text] algorithm with distance parameters [Formula: see text] or [Formula: see text], and are calibrated using MC simulations. A residual JES correction is applied to account for differences between data and MC simulations. This correction and its systematic uncertainty are estimated using a combination of in situ techniques exploiting the transverse momentum balance between a jet and a reference object such as a photon or a [Formula: see text] boson, for [Formula: see text] and pseudorapidities [Formula: see text]. The effect of multiple proton-proton interactions is corrected for, and an uncertainty is evaluated using in situ techniques. The smallest JES uncertainty of less than 1 % is found in the central calorimeter region ([Formula: see text]) for jets with [Formula: see text]. For central jets at lower [Formula: see text], the uncertainty is about 3 %. A consistent JES estimate is found using measurements of the calorimeter response of single hadrons in proton-proton collisions and test-beam data, which also provide the estimate for [Formula: see text] TeV. The calibration of forward jets is derived from dijet [Formula: see text] balance measurements. The resulting uncertainty reaches its largest value of 6 % for low-[Formula: see text] jets at [Formula: see text]. Additional JES uncertainties due to specific event topologies, such as close-by jets or selections of event samples with an enhanced content of jets originating from light quarks or gluons, are also discussed. The magnitude of these uncertainties depends on the event sample used in a given physics analysis, but typically amounts to 0.5-3 %.

The accuracy of volume estimates using ultrasound muscle thickness measurements in different muscle groups

Abstract: This study aimed to investigate the accuracy of estimating the volume of limb muscles (MV) using ultrasonographic muscle thickness (MT) measurements. The MT and MV of each of elbow flexors and extensors, knee extensors and ankle plantar flexors were determined from a single ultrasonographic image and multiple magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) scans, respectively, in 27 healthy men (23–40 years of age) who were allocated to validation (n=14) and cross-validation groups (n=13). In the validation group, simple and multiple regression equations using MT and a set of MT and limb length, respectively, as independent variables were derived to estimate the MV measured by MRI. However, only the multiple regression equations were cross-validated, and so the prediction equations with r 2 of 0.787–0.884 and the standard error of estimate of 22.1 cm3 (7.3%) for the elbow flexors to 198.5 cm3 (11.1%) for the knee extensors were developed using the pooled data. This approach did not induce significant systematic error in any muscle group, with no significant difference in the accuracy of estimating MV between muscle groups. In the multiple regression equations, the relative contribution of MT for predicting MV varied from 41.9% for the knee extensors to 70.4% for the elbow flexors. Thus, ultrasonographic MT measurement was a good predictor of MV when combined with limb length. For predicting MV, however, the unsuitability of a simple equation using MT only and the difference between muscle groups in the relative contribution of MT in multiple regression equations indicated a need for further research on the limb site selected and muscle analyzed for MT measurement.

IFATS collection : in vivo therapeutic potential of human adipose tissue mesenchymal stem cells after transplantation into mice with liver injury

Abstract: Mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs), largely present in the adult human body, represent an attractive tool for the establishment of a stem cell-based therapy for liver diseases. Recently, the therapeutic potential and immunomodulatory activity of MSCs have been revealed. Adipose tissue-derived mesenchymal stem cells (AT-MSCs), so-called adipose-derived stem cells or adipose stromal cells, because of their high accessibility with minimal invasiveness, are especially attractive in the context of future clinical applications. The goal of the present study was to evaluate the therapeutic potential of AT-MSCs by their transplantation into nude mice with CCl(4)-caused liver injury. We observed that after transplantation, AT-MSCs can improve liver functions, which we verified by changes in the levels of biochemical parameters. Ammonia, uric acid, glutamic-pyruvic transaminase, and glutamic-oxaloacetic transaminase concentrations returned to a nearly normal level after AT-MSC transplantation. These results raised the question of how AT-MSCs can achieve this. To discover the possible mechanisms involved in this therapeutic ability of AT-MSCs, in vitro production of cytokines and growth factors was analyzed and compared with MSCs from bone marrow (BM-MSCs) and normal human dermal fibroblasts (NHDFs). As a result we observed that AT-MSCs secrete interleukin 1 receptor alpha (IL-1Ralpha), IL-6, IL-8, granulocyte colony-stimulating factor (G-CSF), granulocyte-macrophage colony-stimulating factor (GM-CSF), monocyte chemotactic protein 1, nerve growth factor, and hepatocyte growth factor in a volume higher than both BM-MSCs and NHDFs. Thus, our findings suggest that AT-MSCs may account for their broad therapeutic efficacy in animal models of liver diseases and in the clinical settings for liver disease treatment. Disclosure of potential conflicts of interest is found at the end of this article.