Publications by authors named "Akira Furukawa"

Dense non-Brownian suspensions exhibit significant shear thinning, although a comprehensive understanding of the full scope of this phenomenon remains elusive. This study numerically reveals intimate heterogenous coupled dynamics between many-body particle motions and solvent hydrodynamics in shear-thinning non-Brownian suspensions. In our simulation systems, we do not account for frictional contact forces, reflecting experimental conditions under low shear rates where shear thinning occurs, while hydrodynamic interactions are directly incorporated using the Smoothed Profile Method.

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We study the microrheology of active suspensions through direct hydrodynamic simulations using model pusher-like microswimmers. We demonstrate that the friction coefficient of a probe particle is notably reduced by hydrodynamic interactions (HIs) among a moving probe and the swimmers. When a swimmer approaches a probe from the rear (front) side, the repulsive HIs between them are weakened (intensified), which results in a slight front-rear asymmetry in swimmer orientation distribution around the probe, creating a significant additional net driving force acting on the probe from the rear side.

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Biological dosimetry is used to estimate one's dose by biological phenomena. The most popular and 'gold standard' phenomenon is the appearance of dicentric chromosomes in metaphases. The metaphase finder is a tool for biological dosimetry that finds metaphase cells on glass slides.

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Gastrointestinal stromal tumors (GISTs) originating from the interstitial cells of Cajal in the muscularis propria are the most common mesenchymal tumor of the gastrointestinal tract. Multiple modalities, including computed tomography (CT), magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), fluorodeoxyglucose positron emission tomography, ultrasonography, digital subtraction angiography, and endoscopy, have been performed to evaluate GISTs. CT is most frequently used for diagnosis, staging, surveillance, and response monitoring during molecularly targeted therapy in clinical practice.

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Organ segmentation is one of the most important step for various medical image analysis tasks. Recently, semi-supervised learning (SSL) has attracted much attentions by reducing labeling cost. However, most of the existing SSLs neglected the prior shape and position information specialized in the medical images, leading to unsatisfactory localization and non-smooth of objects.

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Large amounts of Gd-based contrast agents are used in magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) that are then excreted in urine. These agents are subsequently discharged into the environment because they are difficult to remove by usual sewage treatment techniques. In this study, changes of the Gd anomaly during wastewater treatment processes were determined by analyzing wastewater samples and the possibility for future prediction of the changes was evaluated based on the relationship between the Gd anomaly and the number of MRI devices in use.

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The transverse velocity time correlation function C[over ˜]_{T}(k,ω) with k and ω being the wave number and the frequency, respectively, is a fundamental quantity in determining the transverse mechanical and transport properties of materials. In ordinary liquids, a nonzero value of C[over ˜]_{T}(k,0) is inevitably linked to viscous material flows. Even in solids where significant material flows are precluded due to almost frozen positional degrees of freedom, our molecular dynamics simulations reveal that C[over ˜]_{T}(k,0) takes a nonzero value, whereby the time integration of the velocity field shows definite diffusive behavior with diffusivity C[over ˜]_{T}(k,0)/3.

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Convolutional neural networks have become popular in medical image segmentation, and one of their most notable achievements is their ability to learn discriminative features using large labeled datasets. Two-dimensional (2D) networks are accustomed to extracting multiscale features with deep convolutional neural network extractors, i.e.

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Article Synopsis
  • β-Tricalcium phosphate (β-TCP) is a bone graft substitute known for its good properties, but it lacks sufficient osteoinductive capabilities compared to natural bone.
  • This study examined whether adding elements like strontium, silica, and zinc to a coating on β-TCP could improve its ability to induce bone formation.
  • Results indicated that the coated β-TCP showed significantly enhanced gene expression related to bone formation and blood vessel growth both in lab tests and in live rats.
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Background: Substance use and victimization are known to be related to juvenile recidivism. Self-harm, a factor that commonly accompanies substance use and victimization, is not known to be related to said recidivism but may be so in a welfare-oriented juvenile justice system as found in Japan.

Objective: We examine the extent to which maladaptive coping, comprising substance use and self-harm, increases the rate of persistence in correctional institutions in light of other well-replicated factors of youth recidivism.

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Background: Polyether-ether-ketone (PEEK) is increasingly being used for spinal applications. However, because of its biologically inactive nature, there are risks of false joint loosening and sinking. PEEK materials are coated with apatite to enhance the osteoconductive properties.

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In many tetrahedral network-forming liquids, structural relaxation is anomalously accelerated by compression over relatively low pressure ranges. Here, for silica, we study this problem through comparative molecular dynamics simulations using two different models. Under compression, the network structures are compacted by slight tuning of the intertetrahedral bond angles while nearly preserving the unit tetrahedral structure.

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Gastrointestinal tract lesions are major causes of acute abdominal pain. A rapid, accurate, and reliable diagnosis is required to manage patients. Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) is a nonionizing modality that is beneficial for pregnant women, children, and young adults who are sensitive to ionizing radiation.

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Background: Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) is widely used to diagnose acute abdominal pain; however, it remains unclear which pulse sequence has priority in acute abdominal pain.

Purpose: To investigate the diagnostic accuracy of MRI and to assess the conspicuity of each pulse sequence for the diagnosis of acute abdominal pain due to gastrointestinal diseases.

Material And Methods: We retrospectively enrolled 60 patients with acute abdominal pain who underwent MRI for axial and coronal T2-weighted (T2W) imaging, fat-suppressed (FS)-T2W imaging, and true-fast imaging with steady-state precession (True-FISP) and axial T1-weighted (T1W) imaging and investigated the diagnosis with endoscopy, surgery, histopathology, computed tomography, and clinical follow-up as standard references.

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Four cases (age range, 60-78 years, male:female = 1:3) who had undergone cholecystectomy presented with fever (n = 1), right abdominal pain with fever (n = 1), appetite loss with fever (n = 1), and absence of symptoms (n = 1). Computed tomography (CT) showed an irregular-shaped invasive mass or fluid collection in the right Morrison's pouch, right paracolic gutter, gallbladder fossa, subphrenic space, or abdominal wall. CT and ultrasound revealed gallstones in the granuloma in 3 cases and an abscess in one case.

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Article Synopsis
  • Non-occlusive mesenteric ischemia (NOMI) has a high mortality rate of 52.2%, and identifying preoperative prognostic factors is crucial for improving survival rates.
  • A study analyzed clinical data from 224 NOMI patients, finding that average blood pressure and base excess were significant prognostic indicators; additional treatments post-surgery did not improve outcomes compared to surgery alone.
  • It was noted that patients undergoing bowel resection had varied prognoses depending on the length of the resection, with longer resections linked to poorer outcomes.
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The Gd-based contrast agents utilized in magnetic resonance imaging are difficult to remove by usual sewage treatment technology, and they enter rivers in the discharges from waste water treatment plants. Gd anomaly in rivers has been considered depends on used amount of Gd-based contrast agents. In this study, variation of Gd anomaly in rivers of Tokyo was determined by comparisons to previously reported values.

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  • The department for education and research in forensic odontology began in Japan in 1964, with more universities establishing similar programs until around 2005.
  • The Japanese Society of Forensic Dental Science was founded in 2007, prompting numerous reforms such as new laws on death investigations and educational developments in the field.
  • A chronological overview showcases the evolution of forensic odontology in Japan over the past fifty years, highlighting significant milestones and government involvement.
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Granular materials immersed in a fluid are ubiquitous in daily life, industry, and nature. They include food processing, pastes, cosmetics, paints, concretes, cements, muds, wet sands, snows, landslides, and lava flow. They are known to exhibit a rich variety of complex rheological behavior, but the role of a fluid component in such behavior has remained poorly understood due to the nonlocal and many-body nature of hydrodynamic interactions between solid particles mediated by the fluid.

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Background: Treatment of anterior cruciate ligament injuries commonly involves the use of polyethylene terephthalate (PET) artificial ligaments for reconstruction. However, the currently available methods require long fixation periods, thereby necessitating the development of alternative methods to accelerate the healing process between tendons and bones. Thus, we developed and evaluated a novel technique that utilizes silicate-substituted strontium (SrSiP).

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  • This study evaluated how effective diffusion-weighted imaging (DWI) and apparent diffusion coefficient (ADC) quantification are in diagnosing acute appendicitis in patients with right lower abdominal pain.
  • A total of 51 patients were examined, and by combining DWI with traditional T2-weighted imaging (T2WI), the diagnostic accuracy for appendicitis increased significantly.
  • The results indicated that lower ADC values in both the appendix and peri-appendiceal tissue can help distinguish between uncomplicated and complicated appendicitis, achieving very high accuracy rates.
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Biological dosimetry is used to estimate individual absorbed radiation dose by quantifying an appropriate biological marker. The most popular gold-standard marker is the appearance of dicentric chromosomes in metaphase. The metaphase finder is a tool for biological dosimetry that finds metaphase cells on glass slides.

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Purpose: Ex vivo brains have different MRI properties than in vivo brains because of chemical changes caused by fixative solutions, which change the signal intensity and/or tissue contrast on MR images. In this study, we investigated and compared the MRI properties of in vivo and ex vivo brains.

Methods: Using a Bruker 9.

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