Reappraisal of serum retinol-binding protein as a surrogate marker for retinol and discovery of a novel retinol estimation formula.

Background & Aims: Serum retinol (ROH) is commonly used for population level assessment of vitamin A status. High-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) is considered most accurate method for measuring ROH. However, with the technical difficulty of using HPLC for routine assays, serum retinol-binding protein (RBP) measured by immunological assays is expected to be a surrogate marker for ROH, with reports of a close correlation between serum RBP and ROH.

An Improved Backoff Scheme and Its Performance Analysis for Full Duplex MAC Protocols in VLC Networks.

IEEE 802.15.7 Visible Light Communication (VLC) networks suffer from performance degradation caused by the hidden device collisions due to the directional transmission with narrow beamwidth.

Biological sources of variations of tartrate-resistant acid phosphatase 5b in a healthy Japanese population.

Background: Tartrate-resistant acid phosphatase 5b (TRACP5b) is a bone resorption marker that is mainly used in clinical management of osteoporosis. For proper interpretations of test results for serum TRACP5b, we explored their biological sources of variation, esp. age-related changes, and associations with other bone-related markers in healthy Japanese adults.

Imaging Ca Concentration and pH in Nanopores/Channels of Protein Crystals.

Protein crystals are nanoporous materials. Despite this important characteristic, little is known about the conditions in the pores, also called channels. Here, we describe a method to study the calcium concentration and pH in the nanopores of thaumatin and lysozyme crystals.

A PRELIMINARY STUDY OF INCREASING SELF-EFFICACY IN JUNIOR HIGH SCHOOL STUDENTS: INDUCED SUCCESS AND A VICARIOUS EXPERIENCE.

Bandura's self-efficacy source hypothesis was examined by testing whether success and a vicarious experience of success would enhance self-efficacy among 159 7th graders (81 boys, 78 girls). Unknown to themselves or their classmates, 20 students (Success condition) were presented with easier anagram tasks, allowing them to outperform their 60 classmates (Control condition). The Success and Control students had been paired with classmates (Cheerers; Vicarious condition) who were to cheer on their partners during the task.

Co-witness auditory memory conformity following discussion: a misinformation paradigm.

Twenty-four Japanese undergraduate pairs (12 male and 12 female pairs) participated as witnesses to a simulated criminal event. Although the witness pairs watched the same video together, through wireless headphones they experienced two different auditory versions with four differing items without being aware of the discrepancies. After the presentation, the witnesses were led to discuss six items, including two critical ones they had heard differently and another four they had heard in common.

An implicit assessment of the effect of artificial cheek raising: when your face smiles, the world looks nicer.

Experiments were conducted with 80 undergraduate participants (52 men and 28 women) to examine whether the sensation of having the cheeks lifted or pulled down would elicit different responses in an implicit association test. Implicit emotional responses were measured for two facial feedback conditions by utilizing a modified Affect Misattribution Procedure. The participants wore one of two types of simple devices designed to either raise or lower the cheeks, and rated neutral targets preceded by three types (positive, neutral, or negative) of prime photos.

The Asian project for collaborative derivation of reference intervals: (2) results of non-standardized analytes and transference of reference intervals to the participating laboratories on the basis of cross-comparison of test results.

Background: The 2009 Asian multicenter study for derivation of reference intervals (RIs) featured: 1) centralized measurements to exclude reagent-dependent variations; 2) inclusion of non-standardized analytes (hormones, tumor makers, etc.) in the target; and 3) cross-check of test results between the central and local laboratories. Transferability of centrally derived RIs for non-standardized analytes based on the cross-check was examined.

Asymmetrical drawing patterns on the temples by left-handers.

Twenty-three Japanese genuine left-handers were selected by a Laterality Quotient scale and asked to draw the letter S on their own temples and foreheads. The way they drew on the temples showed an asymmetry that was the mirror reversal of that of right-handers, as found in a previous study. Left-handers drew a reversed letter S on their right temple much more often than on the left temple, whereas right-handers drew them in reverse more often on the left temple.

No need to fake it: reproduction of the Asch experiment without confederates.

In the present experiment, we replicated Asch's seminal study on social conformity without using confederates. We adapted a presentation trick in order to present two different stimuli secretly to groups of participants to create minorities and majorities without utilizing confederates. One hundred and four Japanese undergraduates (40 men and 64 women) carried out Asch-equivalent tasks in same-sex groups of four.

Reading words with jumbled characters in Japanese.

Rayner, et al. (2006) was replicated with 36 Japanese undergraduates who read Japanese sentences in which characters were transposed in one word at the beginning, middle, or end. The same pattern of reading delays in relation to transposition location was found but in smaller magnitude.

Examination of the passive facial feedback hypothesis using an implicit measure: with a furrowed brow, neutral objects with pleasant primes look less appealing.

98 undergraduates (54 men, 44 women) participated in an experiment to examine whether having an artificially furrowed brow would have an effect on participants' subjective impression of perceived targets. An elastic adhesive bandage was either stretched to create furrows on the brow when it retracted, or not stretched so as to avoid creating wrinkles. While wearing the bandages, the participants rated their impressions of neutral targets preceded by agreeable, disagreeable, or neutral primes in a modified Affect Misattribution Procedure.

Evidence for the efficacy of the MORI technique: viewers do not notice or implicitly remember details from the alternate movie version.

The MORI technique provides a unique way to research social influences on memory. The technique allows people to watch different movies on the same screen at the same time without realizing that each of them sees something different. As a result, researchers can create a situation in which people feel as though they share an experience, but systematic differences are introduced into their memories, and the effect of those differences can be tracked through a discussion.

Another test of the passive facial feedback hypothesis: when your face smiles, you feel happy.

88 undergraduates (44 men, 44 women) participated in an experiment to examine whether the cutaneous sensation of having the cheeks lifted would cause a feeling of happiness. Two types of paired adhesive bandages connected with rubber bands were prepared and used either to raise or lower the cheeks. While the bandages were applied, the participants rated their feelings.

Biological properties of crosslinked salmon collagen fibrillar gel as a scaffold for human umbilical vein endothelial cells.

Collagen derived from chum salmon (Oncorhynchus keta) was crosslinked with 1-ethyl-3-(3-dimethylaminopropyl)-carbodiimide (EDC) during collagen fibrillogenesis and applied to an in vitro cell culture to evaluate its potential use as a scaffold for vascular tissue engineering. Human umbilical vein endothelial cells (HUVEC) were cultured on the crosslinked salmon collagen fibrillar gel (EDC-SC gel), and their growth rates and production levels of cytokines, including platelet-derived growth factor-BB and von Willebrand factor, were measured. Comparison was also made with bovine collagen gel crosslinked with EDC (EDC-BC gel).

Application of elastic salmon collagen gel to uniaxial stretching culture of human umbilical vein endothelial cells.

In this study, we investigated the potential of an elastic salmon collagen gel (e-gel) for use as stretching culture scaffold. First, human umbilical vein endothelial cells (HUVECs) were cultured on the e-gel under static condition, and their growth was evaluated by DNA content measurement, MTT test, and scanning electron microscopy. The results demonstrated steady increases in cell number with culture time.

A paper-format group performance test for measuring the implicit association of target concepts.

We developed a paper test utilizing a mechanism for measuring implicit association similar to that used in the Implicit Association Test (IAT; Greenwald, McGhee, & Schwartz, 1998). The target concepts were buried among positive and negative words on a piece of paper. Examinees marked the targets as "bad" or "good" in one task and conversely in the other, along with the evaluative words.

Development of salmon collagen vascular graft: mechanical and biological properties and preliminary implantation study.

Elastic salmon collagen (SC) vascular grafts were prepared by incubating a mixture of acidic SC solution and a fibrillogenesis-inducing buffer containing a crosslinking agent [water-soluble carbodiimide (WSC)] in a tubular mold at 4 degrees C for 24 h and then at 60 degrees C for 5 min. Subsequently, re-crosslinking in ethanol solution containing WSC was performed. The dimension of the SC grafts was easily controlled by changing the size of the mold used.

Conformity among cowitnesses sharing same or different information about an event in experimental collaborative eyewitness testimony.

Using the Mori technique in which two different movies presented on the same screen were viewed separately by two groups without their noticing the duality, two experiments were carried out with 138 undergraduates in groups of varying sizes to examine the effects of cowitnesses with the same or different information on these witnesses' memory distortion. Exp. 1 investigated the cowitness effects in a one-versus-two situation, while Exp.

A test of the passive facial feedback hypothesis: we feel sorry because we cry.

Undergraduates, 61 men and 52 women, participated in pairs in an examination of whether simulated tearing of the eyes would cause sadness. In order to simulate the experience of tearing up, about 0.2 ml of water was dropped on the cheek near the lacrimal duct of both eyes of each participant, who then rated subjective feeling on a 7-point scale.

You say tomato? Collaborative remembering leads to more false memories for intimate couples than for strangers.

Research on memory conformity shows that collaborative remembering--typically in the form of discussion--can influence people's memories. One question that remains is whether it matters with whom we discuss our memories. To address this question we compared people's memories for an event after they discussed that event with either their romantic partner or a stranger.

Projecting two words with one machine: presenting two different visual stimuli using just one projector without viewers' noticing the duality.

A new method, named the fMORI technique, for presenting two different visual stimuli using just one video projector without the viewers' noticing the duality is introduced along with several sample applications of this presentation method. The LCD projectors available now have three color LCD panels aligned differently in terms of their polarization, polarizing differently the green and magenta (red plus blue) components of its emitting image. Therefore, two visual stimuli either in green or in magenta projected on thesame screen canbe observed separately by subjects wearing an appropriate polarizing filter.

In vitro growth and differentiated activities of human periodontal ligament fibroblasts cultured on salmon collagen gel.

Marine-derived collagen is expected to be a much safer alternative to calf collagen, which in medical applications carries the risk of bovine spongiform encephalopathy. In this study, acid-soluble collagen was extracted from salmon skin and crosslinked with 1-ethyl-3-(3-dimethylaminopropyl)-carbodiimide during fibril formation to produce a crosslinked salmon collagen (SC) gel. The growth rates and the differentiated functions of human periodontal ligament fibroblasts (HPdLFs) cultured on the SC gel were investigated.