The present study was conducted to evaluate the validity and reproducibility of noninvasive brachial-ankle pulse wave velocity (baPWV) measurements and to examine the alteration of baPWV in patients with coronary artery disease (CAD). Simultaneous recordings of baPWV by a simple, noninvasive method and aortic pulse wave velosity (PWV) using a catheter tip with pressure manometer were performed in 41 patients with CAD, vasospastic angina, or cardiomyopathy. In 32 subjects (15 controls and 17 patients with CAD), baPWV was recorded independently by two observers in a random manner. In 55 subjects (14 controls and 41 patients with CAD), baPWV was recorded twice by a single observer on different days. baPWV were compared among 172 patients with CAD (aged 62 +/- 8 years); 655 age-matched patients without CAD but with hypertension, diabetes mellitus, or dyslipidemia; and 595 age-matched healthy subjects without these risk factors. baPWV correlated well with aortic PWV (r=0.87, p<0.01). Pearson's correlation coefficients of interobserver and intraobserver reproducibility were r=0.98 and r=0.87, respectively. The corresponding coefficients of variation were 8.4% and 10.0%. baPWV were significantly higher in CAD patients than in non-CAD patients with risk factors, for both genders (p<0.01). In addition, baPWV were higher in non-CAD patients with risk factors than in healthy subjects without risk factors. Thus, the validity and reproducibility of baPWV measurements are considerably high, and this method seems to be an acceptable marker reflecting vascular damages. baPWV measured by this simple, noninvasive method is suitable for screening vascular damages in a large population.

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The measurement of brachial-ankle pulse wave velocity (baPWV) is simple and applicable for general population studies. The present study was conducted to evaluate the applicability of baPWV for screening cardio-

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This study investigated factors that might influence Japanese university students’ expository writing in English. We examined 70 students of low‐ to high‐intermediate English proficiency along a variety of dimensions, namely, second language (L2) proficiency, first language (L1) writing ability, writing strategies in L1 and L2, metaknowledge of L2 expository writing, past writing experiences, and instructional background. We considered these multiple factors as possible explanatory variables for L2 writing. Quantitative analysis revealed that (a) students’ L2 proficiency, L1 writing ability, and metaknowledge were all significant in explaining the L2 writing ability variance; (b) among these 3 independent variables, L2 proficiency explained the largest portion (52%) of the L2 writing ability variance, L1 writing ability the second largest (18%), and metaknowledge the smallest (11%); and (c) there were significant correlations among these independent variables. Qualitative analysis indicated that good writers were significantly different from weak writers in that good writers (a) paid more attention to overall organization while writing in L1 and L2; (b) wrote more fluently in L1 and L2; (c) exhibited greater confidence in L2 writing for academic purposes; and (d) had regularly written more than one English paragraph while in high school. There was no significant difference between good and weak writers for other writing strategies and experiences. On the basis of these results, we propose an explanatory model for EFL writing ability.

The impact of the Fukushima-derived radiostrontium ((90)Sr and (89)Sr) on the western North Pacific Ocean has not been well established, although (90)Sr concentrations recorded in surface seawater offshore of the damaged Fukushima Dai-ichi nuclear power plant were in some areas comparable to or even higher than (as those in December 2011 with 400 kBq m(-3)(90)Sr) the (137)Cs levels. The total amount of (90)Sr released to the marine environment in the form of highly radioactive wastewater could reach about 1 PBq. Long-term series (1960-2010) of (90)Sr concentration measurements in subtropical surface waters of the western North Pacific indicated that its concentration has been decreasing gradually with a half-life of 14 y. The pre-Fukushima (90)Sr levels in surface waters, including coastal waters near Fukushima, were estimated to be 1 Bq m(-3). To better assess the impact of about 4-5 orders of magnitude increased radiostrontium levels on the marine environment, more detail measurements in seawater and biota of the western North Pacific are required.

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Global nuclear weapons tests fallout of 137Cs in the northern hemisphere has been documented in the UNSCEAR (United Nations Scientific Committee on the Effect of Atomic Radiation) reports. However, many questions have arisen during the past three to four decades; e.g. the water column inventory of 137Cs in the North Pacific Ocean was two to three time higher than the cumulative decay corrected fallout at the same latitude as stated in the UNSCEAR reports. Here we show more precise spatial distribution of global 137Cs fallout primarily on the basis of global measurements in rain, seawater and soil, as data from 10 degrees x 10 degrees grids. A typical feature of geographical distribution is that two high global 137Cs fallout areas exist in the northern hemisphere, where the highest 137Cs fallout was observed in the globe. These areas correspond to crossovers of areas where larger precipitation amounts were expected and where higher stratosphere-troposphere exchange was expected. Our new estimate of 765 +/- 79 PBq as global 137Cs fallout for the northern hemisphere is 1.4 times higher than that of 545 PBq in the UNSCEAR reports.