National Institute of Japanese Literature

This paper introduces a powerful channel augmented joint learning strategy for the visible-infrared recognition problem. For data augmentation, most existing methods directly adopt the standard operations designed for single-modality visible images, and thus do not fully consider the imagery properties in visible to infrared matching. Our basic idea is to homogenously generate color-irrelevant images by randomly exchanging the color channels. It can be seamlessly integrated into existing augmentation operations without modifying the network, consistently improving the robustness against color variations. Incorporated with a random erasing strategy, it further greatly enriches the diversity by simulating random occlusions. For cross-modality metric learning, we design an enhanced channel-mixed learning strategy to simultaneously handle the intra-and cross-modality variations with squared difference for stronger discriminability. Besides, a channel-augmented joint learning strategy is further developed to explicitly optimize the outputs of augmented images. Extensive experiments with insightful analysis on two visible-infrared recognition tasks show that the proposed strategies consistently improve the accuracy. Without auxiliary information, it improves the state-of-the-art Rank-1/mAP by 14.59%/13.00% on the large-scale SYSU-MM01 dataset.

Weakly-supervised semantic segmentation (WSSS) with image-level labels is an important and challenging task. Due to the high training efficiency, end-to-end solutions for WSSS have received increasing attention from the community. However, current methods are mainly based on convolutional neural networks and fail to explore the global information properly, thus usually resulting in incomplete object regions. In this paper, to address the aforementioned problem, we introduce Transformers, which naturally integrate global information, to generate more integral initial pseudo labels for end-to-end WSSS. Motivated by the inherent consistency between the self-attention in Transformers and the semantic affinity, we propose an Affinity from Attention (AFA) module to learn semantic affinity from the multi-head self-attention (MHSA) in Transformers. The learned affinity is then leveraged to refine the initial pseudo labels for segmentation. In addition, to efficiently derive reliable affinity labels for supervising AFA and ensure the local consistency of pseudo labels, we devise a Pixel-Adaptive Refinement module that incorporates low-level image appearance information to refine the pseudo labels. We perform extensive experiments and our method achieves 66.0% and 38.9% mIoU on the PASCAL VOC 2012 and MS COCO 2014 datasets, respectively, significantly outperforming recent end-to-end methods and several multi-stage competitors. Code is available at https://github.com/rulixiang/afa.

Federated learning has emerged as an important distributed learning paradigm, which normally involves collaborative updating with others and local updating on private data. However, heterogeneity problem and catastrophic forgetting bring distinctive challenges. First, due to non-i.i.d (identically and independently distributed) data and heterogeneous architectures, models suffer performance degradation on other domains and communication barrier with participants models. Second, in local updating, model is separately optimized on private data, which is prone to overfit current data distribution and forgets previously acquired knowledge, resulting in catastrophic forgetting. In this work, we propose FCCL (Federated CrossCorrelation and Continual Learning). For heterogeneity problem, FCCL leverages unlabeled public data for communication and construct cross-correlation matrix to learn a generalizable representation under domain shift. Mean- while, for catastrophic forgetting, FCCL utilizes knowledge distillation in local updating, providing inter and intra domain information without leaking privacy. Empirical results on various image classification tasks demonstrate the effectiveness of our method and the efficiency of modules.

The transition from high school to work creates serious problems for American youths and employers. Since single theories have difficulty conceptualizing the reasons for these problems, this paper reviews four theories that elucidate aspects: segmented labor market theory, human capital theory, signaling theory, and network theory. In addition, this review contrasts the American transition system with the transition systems in Japan, West Germany, and the United Kingdom to reveal practices and theoretical issues which are neither salient nor well studied in the American literature. We extend signaling theory to examine youths' use of signals, employers' use of dubious signals (e.g. age) while ignoring promising ones (e.g. grades), signals which are efficient in the short-term but not in the long-term. We extend network theory to include both personal contacts and institutional linkages. We note the ways poor signals may affect youths' plans and motivation and make them unresponsive to market demands, and the ways institutional networks may affect schooling and work-entry in the United States. Implications for theory, policy, and future research are also considered.

Model heterogeneous federated learning is a challenging task since each client independently designs its own model. Due to the annotation difficulty and free-riding par-ticipant issue, the local client usually contains unavoidable and varying noises, which cannot be effectively addressed by existing algorithms. This paper starts the first attempt to study a new and challenging robust federated learning problem with noisy and heterogeneous clients. We present a novel solution RHFL (Robust Heterogeneous Federated Learning), which simultaneously handles the label noise and performs federated learning in a single framework. It is featured in three aspects: (1) For the communication be-tween heterogeneous models, we directly align the models feedback by utilizing public data, which does not require additional shared global models for collaboration. (2) For internal label noise, we apply a robust noise-tolerant loss function to reduce the negative effects. (3) For challenging noisy feedback from other participants, we design a novel client confidence re-weighting scheme, which adaptively as-signs corresponding weights to each client in the collabo-rative learning stage. Extensive experiments validate the effectiveness of our approach in reducing the negative ef-fects of different noise rates/types under both model ho-mogeneous and heterogeneous federated learning settings, consistently outperforming existing methods.

To study neuronal activities that influence the generation of the alpha rhythm, we used positron emission tomography and simultaneous recording of the electroencephalogram (EEG) in normal volunteers and under passive conditions. A negative correlation between regional cerebral blood flow and alpha power was found in the occipital cortex, consistent with the visual modality-specific reactivity of the alpha rhythm. A positive correlation was found in the pons, midbrain, hypothalamus, amygdala, the basal prefrontal cortex, insula and the right dorsal premotor cortex. Neuronal activities of the brain stem and limbic system that are positively correlated with alpha power may provide an anatomical basis for studies of the relationship between emotional state and brain rhythm in health and disease.

In June 1994, the world's first clinical center offering carbon ion radiotherapy opened at the National Institute of Radiological Science (NIRS), Japan. Among several types of ion species, carbon ions were chosen for cancer therapy because they were judged to have the most optimal properties in terms of superior physical and biological characteristics. As of March 2010, 5,196 patients have been registered for carbon ion radiotherapy. Clinical results have shown that carbon ion radiotherapy has the potential to provide a sufficient radiation dose to the tumor, while having acceptable morbidity in the surrounding normal tissues. Tumors that appear to respond favorably to carbon ions include locally advanced tumors as well as histologically non-squamous cell tumor types such as adenocarcinoma, adenoid cystic carcinoma, malignant melanoma, hepatoma, and bone/soft tissue sarcoma. By taking advantage of the unique properties of carbon ions, treatment with small fractions within a short treatment period has been successfully carried out for a variety of tumors. This means that carbon ion radiotherapy can offer treatment for larger numbers of patients than is possible with other modalities over the same time period.

Federated learning shows a bright promise as a privacy-preserving collaborative learning technique. However, prevalent solutions mainly focus on all private data sampled from the same domain. An important challenge is that when distributed data are derived from diverse domains. The private model presents degenerative performance on other domains (with domain shift). Therefore, we expect that the global model optimized after the federated learning process stably provides generalizability performance on multiple domains. In this paper, we propose Federated Proto-types Learning (FPL) for federated learning under domain shift. The core idea is to construct cluster prototypes and unbiased prototypes, providing fruitful domain knowledge and a fair convergent target. On the one hand, we pull the sample embedding closer to cluster prototypes belonging to the same semantics than cluster prototypes from distinct classes. On the other hand, we introduce consistency regularization to align the local instance with the respective unbiased prototype. Empirical results on Digits and Office Caltech tasks demonstrate the effectiveness of the proposed solution and the efficiency of crucial modules.

The paper presents a novel approach to unsupervised text summarization. The novelty lies in exploiting the diversity of concepts in text for summarization, which has not received much attention in the summarization literature. A diversity-based approach here is a principled generalization of Maximal Marginal Relevance criterion by Carbonell and Goldstein \cite{carbonell-goldstein98}.

Although it is generally accepted that humans cannot perceive sounds in the frequency range above 20 kHz, the question of whether the existence of such "inaudible" high-frequency components may affect the acoustic perception of audible sounds remains unanswered. In this study, we used noninvasive physiological measurements of brain responses to provide evidence that sounds containing high-frequency components (HFCs) above the audible range significantly affect the brain activity of listeners. We used the gamelan music of Bali, which is extremely rich in HFCs with a nonstationary structure, as a natural sound source, dividing it into two components: an audible low-frequency component (LFC) below 22 kHz and an HFC above 22 kHz. Brain electrical activity and regional cerebral blood flow (rCBF) were measured as markers of neuronal activity while subjects were exposed to sounds with various combinations of LFCs and HFCs. None of the subjects recognized the HFC as sound when it was presented alone. Nevertheless, the power spectra of the alpha frequency range of the spontaneous electroencephalogram (alpha-EEG) recorded from the occipital region increased with statistical significance when the subjects were exposed to sound containing both an HFC and an LFC, compared with an otherwise identical sound from which the HFC was removed (i.e., LFC alone). In contrast, compared with the baseline, no enhancement of alpha-EEG was evident when either an HFC or an LFC was presented separately. Positron emission tomography measurements revealed that, when an HFC and an LFC were presented together, the rCBF in the brain stem and the left thalamus increased significantly compared with a sound lacking the HFC above 22 kHz but that was otherwise identical. Simultaneous EEG measurements showed that the power of occipital alpha-EEGs correlated significantly with the rCBF in the left thalamus. Psychological evaluation indicated that the subjects felt the sound containing an HFC to be more pleasant than the same sound lacking an HFC. These results suggest the existence of a previously unrecognized response to complex sound containing particular types of high frequencies above the audible range. We term this phenomenon the "hypersonic effect."

Japanese distance education has been slow to utilize the Internet, and mainly depends on the mail system and to a lesser extent TV broadcasting as its mode of delivery. However, since 2001 regulations have been relaxed to allow students to complete all course requirements for a university degree via online distance learning. This paper reports the results of a questionnaire study administered to the students (N=424) enrolled in one of Japan’s few online distance universities. Satisfaction with learning was explored by examining student opinions and learning preferences in regard to five aspects of distance learning identified as important: 1) teacher interaction, 2) content interaction, 3) student interaction, 4) computer interaction and 5) student autonomy. In addition, student responses to three open-ended questions were included in the analysis. The results indicated students were generally satisfied with their learning, and that specifically, learning satisfaction was higher for students who: 1) could persevere in the face of distance learning challenges, 2) found computers easy to use, 3) found it easy to interact with instructors, and 4) did not prefer social interaction with others when learning.

We have examined the relationship between solar wind speed and electron density fluctuations on scale sizes around 100 km in the heliocentric distance range of 0.3 to 0.8 AU using interplanetary scintillation (IPS) data obtained at the Solar‐Terrestrial Environment Laboratory. The solar wind properties derived from the IPS data are biased by line of sight integration through a three‐dimensional structured solar wind. Therefore we have applied a computer‐assisted tomography (CAT) method to deconvolve the line of sight integration and reconstruct the solar wind structure. The analysis was made for the solar wind speed V and electron density fluctuations δ N e in the solar activity minimum phase when high‐speed regions are separated from an equatorial low‐speed region by a sharp velocity gradient. From results of the CAT analysis we derived the best fit power law relation of δ N e ∝ V −γ with γ = 0.5 ± 0.15, indicating that fractional density fluctuations δ N e / N e in the high‐speed wind are larger than those in the low‐speed wind. Combining this relation with results of previous workers [ Coles et al. , 1995; Manoharan , 1993; Celnikier et al. , 1987; Jackson et al. , this issue], we suggest that the fractional density fluctuation level of the high‐speed wind evolves with heliocentric distance.

Unsupervised visible-infrared person re-identification is a challenging task due to the large modality gap and the unavailability of cross-modality correspondences. Cross-modality correspondences are very crucial to bridge the modality gap. Some existing works try to mine cross-modality correspondences, but they focus only on local information. They do not fully exploit the global relationship across identities, thus limiting the quality of the mined correspondences. Worse still, the number of clusters of the two modalities is often inconsistent, exacerbating the unreliability of the generated correspondences. In response, we devise a Progressive Graph Matching method to globally mine cross-modality correspondences under cluster imbalance scenarios. PGM formulates correspondence mining as a graph matching process and considers the global information by minimizing the global matching cost, where the matching cost measures the dissimilarity of clusters. Besides, PGM adopts a progressive strategy to address the imbalance issue with multiple dynamic matching processes. Based on PGM, we design an Alternate Cross Contrastive Learning (ACCL) module to reduce the modality gap with the mined cross-modality correspondences, while mitigating the effect of noise in correspondences through an alternate scheme. Extensive experiments demonstrate the reliability of the generated correspondences and the effectiveness of our method.

This study sought to examine research trends in computer-assisted language learning (CALL) using a retrospective scientometric approach. Scopus was used to search for relevant publications on the topic and generate a dataset consisting of 3,697 studies published in 11 journals between 1977 and 2020. A document co-citation analysis method was adopted to identify the main research clusters in the dataset. The impact of each publication on the field was measured by using the burst index and the betweenness centrality and the content of influential publications was closely analysed to determine the focus of each cluster and the key themes of the studies in focus. Overall, we identified seven major clusters. We further found that leveraging synchronous computer-mediated communication and negotiated interaction, multimedia, telecollaboration or e-mail exchanges, blogs, digital games, Wikis and podcasts to support language learning was probably beneficial for language learning. Varying degrees of support were found in various studies for each of these technologies. Stronger support was found for synchronous computer-mediated communication and negotiated interaction, multimedia, telecollaboration or e-mail exchanges and digital games and weaker support was found for blogs, Wikis, and podcasts. The limitations the supporting studies listed were also considered inconsequential. On the other hand, while there was strong support for blogs, Wikis and podcasts, some major drawbacks were observed. The findings of the study would be helpful for teachers and instructors who want to decide whether to use technology in the classroom for instructional purposes. Additionally, researchers and graduate students who need to identify a research topic for their thesis or dissertation may find the results of the study useful for them, too.

The great east Japan earthquake and subsequent tsunamis caused Fukushima Dai-ichi Nuclear Power Plant (NPP) accident. National Institute of Radiological Sciences (NIRS) developed the external dose estimation system for Fukushima residents. The system is being used in the Fukushima health management survey. The doses can be obtained by superimposing the behavior data of the residents on the dose rate maps. For grasping the doses, 18 evacuation patterns of the residents were assumed by considering the actual evacuation information before using the survey data. The doses of the residents from the deliberate evacuation area were relatively higher than those from the area within 20 km radius. The estimated doses varied from around 1 to 6 mSv for the residents evacuated from the representative places in the deliberate evacuation area. The maximum dose in 18 evacuation patterns was estimated to be 19 mSv.

The extracellular effect of fibroblast growth factor-12 (FGF12) remains unknown because FGF12 cannot activate any fibroblast growth factor receptors (FGFRs), and FGF12 is not currently thought to be released from cells. We reported previously that FGF12 plays an intracellular role in the inhibition of radiation-induced apoptosis. In this study, we demonstrated that recombinant FGF12 was able to be internalized into the cytoplasm of a rat intestinal epithelial cell line, IEC6, and this process was dependent on two novel cell-penetrating peptide (CPP) domains (CPP-M and CPP-C). In particular, CPP-C, composed of ∼10 amino acids, was identified as a specific domain of FGF12 and its subfamily in the C-terminal region (residues 140–149), although CPP-M was a common domain in the internal region of the FGF family. The absence of CPP-C from FGF12 or a mutation (E142L) in the CPP-C domain drastically reduced the internalization of FGF12 into cells. Therefore, CPP-C played an essential role in the internalization of FGF12. In addition, CPP-C was able to deliver other polypeptides into cells as a CPP because an FGF1/CPP-C chimeric protein was internalized into IEC6 cells more efficiently than wild-type FGF1. Finally, intraperitoneally added FGF12 inhibited radiation-induced apoptosis in the intestinal epithelial cells of BALB/c mice, and deletion of the CPP-C domain decreased the inhibition of the apoptosis. These findings suggest that exogenous FGF12 can play a role in tissues by translocating into cells through the plasma membrane, and the availability of this novel CPP provides a new tool for the intracellular delivery of bioactive molecules. The extracellular effect of fibroblast growth factor-12 (FGF12) remains unknown because FGF12 cannot activate any fibroblast growth factor receptors (FGFRs), and FGF12 is not currently thought to be released from cells. We reported previously that FGF12 plays an intracellular role in the inhibition of radiation-induced apoptosis. In this study, we demonstrated that recombinant FGF12 was able to be internalized into the cytoplasm of a rat intestinal epithelial cell line, IEC6, and this process was dependent on two novel cell-penetrating peptide (CPP) domains (CPP-M and CPP-C). In particular, CPP-C, composed of ∼10 amino acids, was identified as a specific domain of FGF12 and its subfamily in the C-terminal region (residues 140–149), although CPP-M was a common domain in the internal region of the FGF family. The absence of CPP-C from FGF12 or a mutation (E142L) in the CPP-C domain drastically reduced the internalization of FGF12 into cells. Therefore, CPP-C played an essential role in the internalization of FGF12. In addition, CPP-C was able to deliver other polypeptides into cells as a CPP because an FGF1/CPP-C chimeric protein was internalized into IEC6 cells more efficiently than wild-type FGF1. Finally, intraperitoneally added FGF12 inhibited radiation-induced apoptosis in the intestinal epithelial cells of BALB/c mice, and deletion of the CPP-C domain decreased the inhibition of the apoptosis. These findings suggest that exogenous FGF12 can play a role in tissues by translocating into cells through the plasma membrane, and the availability of this novel CPP provides a new tool for the intracellular delivery of bioactive molecules.

Ku, a heterodimer of Ku70 and Ku80, plays a key role in multiple nuclear processes, e.g. DNA repair, chromosome maintenance, and transcription regulation. Heterodimerization is essential for Ku-dependent DNA repairin vivo, although its role is poorly understood. Some lines of evidence suggest that heterodimerization is required for the stabilization of Ku70 and Ku80. Here we show that the heterodimerization of these Ku subunits is important for their nuclear entry. When transfected into Ku-deficient xrs-6 cells, exogenous Ku70 and Ku80 tagged with green fluorescent protein accumulated into the nucleus, whereas each nuclear localization signal (NLS)-dysfunctional mutant was undetectable in the nucleus, supporting the idea that each Ku can translocate to the nucleus through its own NLS. On the other hand, the nuclear accumulation of each NLS-dysfunctional mutant was markedly enhanced by the presence of an exogenous wild-type counterpart. In Ku-expressing HeLa cells, each NLS-dysfunctional mutant, as well as wild-type Ku70 and Ku80, was still detectable in the nucleus, whereas the double mutant of each Ku subunit with decreased functions of both nuclear targeting and dimerization was undetectable in the nucleus. Our results indicate that each Ku subunit can translocate to the nucleus not only through its own NLS but also through heterodimerization with each other. Ku, a heterodimer of Ku70 and Ku80, plays a key role in multiple nuclear processes, e.g. DNA repair, chromosome maintenance, and transcription regulation. Heterodimerization is essential for Ku-dependent DNA repairin vivo, although its role is poorly understood. Some lines of evidence suggest that heterodimerization is required for the stabilization of Ku70 and Ku80. Here we show that the heterodimerization of these Ku subunits is important for their nuclear entry. When transfected into Ku-deficient xrs-6 cells, exogenous Ku70 and Ku80 tagged with green fluorescent protein accumulated into the nucleus, whereas each nuclear localization signal (NLS)-dysfunctional mutant was undetectable in the nucleus, supporting the idea that each Ku can translocate to the nucleus through its own NLS. On the other hand, the nuclear accumulation of each NLS-dysfunctional mutant was markedly enhanced by the presence of an exogenous wild-type counterpart. In Ku-expressing HeLa cells, each NLS-dysfunctional mutant, as well as wild-type Ku70 and Ku80, was still detectable in the nucleus, whereas the double mutant of each Ku subunit with decreased functions of both nuclear targeting and dimerization was undetectable in the nucleus. Our results indicate that each Ku subunit can translocate to the nucleus not only through its own NLS but also through heterodimerization with each other. DNA-dependent protein kinase DNA double-strand break nuclear localization signal green fluorescent protein propidium iodide yellow variant GFP cyan variant GFP enhanced GFP glutathioneS-transferase Ku is a complex composed of two protein subunits of 70 and 80 kDa, hereafter designated as Ku70 and Ku80, respectively (1Mimori T. Hardin J.A. Steitz J.A. J. Biol. Chem. 1986; 261: 2274-2278Abstract Full Text PDF PubMed Google Scholar). It was shown that Ku is the DNA-binding component of a DNA-dependent protein kinase (DNA-PK)1 that phosphorylates several nuclear proteins in vitro,e.g. p53, RNA polymerase II, or Ku itself and is involved in DNA double-strand break (DSB) repair and V(D)J recombination (2Anderson C.W. Trends Biochem. Sci. 1993; 18: 433-437Abstract Full Text PDF PubMed Scopus (235) Google Scholar, 3Weaver D.T. Adv. Immunol. 1995; 58: 29-85Crossref PubMed Scopus (59) Google Scholar). Besides this main function, the Ku protein has other functions, some of which may be independent of DNA-PK activity. Both Ku70- and Ku80-knockout mice exhibited not only deficiencies in DNA DSB repair but also growth retardation (4Nussenzweig A. Chen C. da Costa Soares V. Sanchez M. Sokol K. Nussenzweig M.C. Li G.C. Nature. 1996; 382: 551-555Crossref PubMed Scopus (579) Google Scholar, 5Gu Y. Seidl K.J. Rathbun G.A. Zhu C. Manis J.P. van der Stoep N. Davidson L. Cheng H.L. Sekiguchi J.M. Frank K. Stanhope-Baker P. Schlissel M.S. Roth D.B. Alt F.W. Immunity. 1997; 7: 653-665Abstract Full Text Full Text PDF PubMed Scopus (381) Google Scholar). In addition, Ku70- and Ku80-mutant embryo fibroblasts in primary cultures have prolonged doubling times compared with normal embryo fibroblasts due to the rapid loss of proliferating cells and have shown signs of senescence (4Nussenzweig A. Chen C. da Costa Soares V. Sanchez M. Sokol K. Nussenzweig M.C. Li G.C. Nature. 1996; 382: 551-555Crossref PubMed Scopus (579) Google Scholar, 5Gu Y. Seidl K.J. Rathbun G.A. Zhu C. Manis J.P. van der Stoep N. Davidson L. Cheng H.L. Sekiguchi J.M. Frank K. Stanhope-Baker P. Schlissel M.S. Roth D.B. Alt F.W. Immunity. 1997; 7: 653-665Abstract Full Text Full Text PDF PubMed Scopus (381) Google Scholar). However, this appears not to be the case for cs DNA-PK-knockout mice (6Gao Y. Chaudhuri J. Zhu C. Davidson L. Weaver D.T. Alt F.W. Immunity. 1998; 9: 367-376Abstract Full Text Full Text PDF PubMed Scopus (365) Google Scholar). These findings suggest that Ku plays some role in growth regulation and/or senescence independent of the function of DNA-PK. Ku has been generally believed to always exist and function as a heterodimer. The heterodimerization is essential for DNA DSB repairin vivo and is also important in activating DNA-PK, which is one of the main functions of Ku (7Jin S. Weaver D.T. EMBO J. 1997; 16: 6874-6885Crossref PubMed Scopus (126) Google Scholar). The interacting regions of Ku70 and Ku80 have been identified by many research groups (8Wu X. Lieber M.R. Mol. Cell. Biol. 1996; 16: 5186-5193Crossref PubMed Scopus (110) Google Scholar, 9Osipovich O. Durum S.K. Muegge K. J. Biol. Chem. 1997; 272: 27259-27265Abstract Full Text Full Text PDF PubMed Scopus (47) Google Scholar, 10Cary R.B. Chen F. Shen Z. Chen D.J. Nucleic Acids Res. 1998; 26: 974-979Crossref PubMed Scopus (41) Google Scholar, 11Koike M. Miyasaka T. Mimori T. Shiomi T. Biochem. Biophys. Res. Commun. 1998; 252: 679-685Crossref PubMed Scopus (30) Google Scholar, 12Wang J. Dong X. Myung K. Hendrickson E.A. Reeves W.H. J. Biol. Chem. 1998; 273: Full Text Full Text PDF PubMed Scopus Google but the role of this in the Ku functions of one of the Ku subunits results in a in the of the other Y. Seidl K.J. Rathbun G.A. Zhu C. Manis J.P. van der Stoep N. Davidson L. Cheng H.L. Sekiguchi J.M. Frank K. Stanhope-Baker P. Schlissel M.S. Roth D.B. Alt F.W. Immunity. 1997; 7: 653-665Abstract Full Text Full Text PDF PubMed Scopus (381) Google Scholar, A. V. Hendrickson E.A. Mol. Cell. Biol. 1996; 16: PubMed Scopus Google Scholar, A. T. Mol. Cell. Biol. 1997; PubMed Scopus Google that the heterodimerization in required for the stabilization of each Ku On the other hand, some in the Ku70- and Ku80-knockout mice (4Nussenzweig A. Chen C. da Costa Soares V. Sanchez M. Sokol K. Nussenzweig M.C. Li G.C. Nature. 1996; 382: 551-555Crossref PubMed Scopus (579) Google Scholar, 5Gu Y. Seidl K.J. Rathbun G.A. Zhu C. Manis J.P. van der Stoep N. Davidson L. Cheng H.L. Sekiguchi J.M. Frank K. Stanhope-Baker P. Schlissel M.S. Roth D.B. Alt F.W. Immunity. 1997; 7: 653-665Abstract Full Text Full Text PDF PubMed Scopus (381) Google Scholar, G.C. Li X. Chen D.J. Z. C. Mol. Cell. 1998; Full Text Full Text PDF PubMed Google Scholar, C. P. Roth D.B. Cell. 1996; Full Text Full Text PDF PubMed Scopus Google Scholar). mice have of and a of but Ku80-knockout mice Ku70 has been to show and DNA whereas Ku80 with Ku70 for DNA J. Dong X. Myung K. Hendrickson E.A. Reeves W.H. J. Biol. Chem. 1998; 273: Full Text Full Text PDF PubMed Scopus Google Scholar). In addition, Ku70 may have functions that independent of Ku80. Ku was to be a nuclear with its functions as a subunit of DNA-PK. On the other hand, although Ku is to be and to function only in the nucleus, several have the or localization of Ku proteins in J. J. PubMed Scopus Google Scholar, J.P. PubMed Scopus Google Scholar, W.H. N. 18: Google Scholar, N. J. Biochem. 1996; PubMed Scopus Google Scholar). The localization of Ku70 and Ku80 the M. T. M. T. A. Shiomi T. J. Sci. Google and the nuclear of Ku70 that of Ku80 in cells M. T. Miyasaka T. Shiomi T. 18: PubMed Scopus Google Scholar). in the localization of Ku be by J. J. Sci. 1996; Google Scholar). of the cells a of Ku the to the and that Ku can both and M. E.A. A. J. 1998; PubMed Google Scholar). T. S. M. J. S.K. J. Immunity. Full Text Full Text PDF PubMed Scopus Google have that DNA-PK of cells in by the nuclear of These suggest that the for localization of Ku70 and Ku80 in a key role in the function of vivo, although the is poorly understood. have identified nuclear localization of Ku70 and Ku80 M. T. Miyasaka T. Shiomi T. 18: PubMed Scopus Google Scholar, M. T. Miyasaka T. Shiomi T. Res. PubMed Scopus Google Scholar). The of the of the two Ku protein subunits of Ku80 and Ku70 to the and the variant respectively M. T. Miyasaka T. Shiomi T. 18: PubMed Scopus Google Scholar, M. T. Miyasaka T. Shiomi T. Res. PubMed Scopus Google Scholar). have also shown that both Ku70 and Ku80 can translocate to the nucleus a heterodimer their own NLS M. T. Miyasaka T. Shiomi T. 18: PubMed Scopus Google Scholar, M. Shiomi T. A. Biochem. Biophys. Res. Commun. PubMed Scopus Google Scholar). the localization of Ku70 is by in cells, but that of Ku80 is not J. J. Sci. 1996; Google Scholar). These results suggest that the nuclear of Ku70 and Ku80 may be In the we the localization of of green fluorescent protein and Ku proteins to which by the and that Ku70 and Ku80 translocate to the nucleus not only through their own NLS but also through the that the heterodimerization of Ku is important for their nuclear and regulation. of lines of and xrs-6 the the of their to in with and The of has been in M. Miyasaka T. Mimori T. Shiomi T. Biochem. Biophys. Res. Commun. 1998; 252: 679-685Crossref PubMed Scopus (30) Google Scholar, M. T. Miyasaka T. Shiomi T. Res. PubMed Scopus Google Scholar). The cells in a The xrs-6 cells in Ku80 by P. A. T. Mol. Cell. Biol. 1997; PubMed Scopus Google Scholar, Mol. Cell. Biol. PubMed Scopus Google Scholar). a a of the in these cells to the DNA was with propidium iodide the cells in with and an 70 to as M. T. Miyasaka T. Shiomi T. Res. PubMed Scopus Google Scholar). with a by the for Ku70 was or M. T. Miyasaka T. Shiomi T. 18: PubMed Scopus Google Scholar, M. T. Miyasaka T. Shiomi T. Res. PubMed Scopus Google Scholar). Ku70 was in or a and M. T. Miyasaka T. Shiomi T. 18: PubMed Scopus Google Scholar, M. T. Miyasaka T. Shiomi T. Res. PubMed Scopus Google Scholar). The of both by Ku70- or by mutant by The was to the M. T. Miyasaka T. Shiomi T. 18: PubMed Scopus Google Scholar). the of the each mutant was identified by DNA as M. T. Miyasaka T. Shiomi T. 18: PubMed Scopus Google Scholar). The was as J. J. Sci. 1996; Google Scholar, M. T. Miyasaka T. Shiomi T. Res. PubMed Scopus Google Scholar). In cells and by and the The of with the with a and of a both and The proteins a to the M. K. T. N. T. 1995; Google Scholar). was as M. T. Miyasaka T. Shiomi T. 18: PubMed Scopus Google Scholar). The Ku with an or in with protein to and the to and as some lines of evidence that the for localization of the two Ku subunits may a key role in the function of Ku M. T. Miyasaka T. Shiomi T. 18: PubMed Scopus Google Scholar, J. J. Sci. 1996; Google Scholar, M. E.A. A. J. 1998; PubMed Google Scholar, T. S. M. J. S.K. J. Immunity. Full Text Full Text PDF PubMed Scopus Google although the is poorly understood. we identified each NLS of Ku70 and Ku80 that each Ku to the nucleus through its own NLS M. T. Miyasaka T. Shiomi T. 18: PubMed Scopus Google Scholar, M. T. Miyasaka T. Shiomi T. Res. PubMed Scopus Google Scholar). the nuclear of Ku we the Ku proteins and to with the other Ku subunits in the cells, which have Ku80 and or In the of with a signal of with the was by an but not in the other was by with an in the only of xrs-6 cells with These results that the of or proteins is in xrs-6 cells each Ku subunit is required to each and the of the Ku80 protein in the has been shown to in loss of the Ku70 protein A. T. Mol. Cell. Biol. 1997; PubMed Scopus Google Scholar, T. A. J. Alt F.W. PubMed Scopus Google Scholar). In addition, of the Ku80 the of the Ku70 protein in xrs-6 cells A. T. Mol. Cell. Biol. 1997; PubMed Scopus Google Scholar, T. A. J. Alt F.W. PubMed Scopus Google Scholar). that Ku70 was in the and cells and that the exogenous Ku80 tagged with as well as Ku80, also Ku80 was not in and their whereas was in the cells The Ku70 NLS a of M. T. Miyasaka T. Shiomi T. Res. PubMed Scopus Google Scholar). When the of the Ku70 NLS and GFP into the of HeLa cells, the proteins of this mutant their nuclear localization M. T. Miyasaka T. Shiomi T. Res. PubMed Scopus Google Scholar). On the other hand, the in the Ku70 its nuclear localization in a that Ku70 NLS is important in the nuclear of However, this nuclear localization M. Shiomi T. A. Biochem. Biophys. Res. Commun. PubMed Scopus Google Scholar). On the of these we the that the in the Ku70 may not the NLS function and/or that Ku80 may to the this we the localization of of and Ku proteins to which by the in the xrs-6 cells, which have Ku80 protein and markedly of that the wild-type Ku70 proteins accumulated the nucleus in cells, which have undetectable Ku80 as shown in M. Shiomi T. A. Biochem. Biophys. Res. Commun. PubMed Scopus Google Scholar). the of the or transfected into xrs-6 Both mutant proteins have a decreased nuclear localization but not and The of the two Ku70 NLS and transfected into xrs-6 The its nuclear localization whereas has a decreased nuclear localization but not and These results the idea that a in the Ku70 not the NLS these results that Ku70 has a NLS. and transfected the normal protein the two mutant and accumulated the In was the double mutant its nuclear localization as the NLS mutant These results indicate that a or not the nuclear localization in xrs-6 the we the NLS of Ku80 nuclear of Ku80 and M. T. Miyasaka T. Shiomi T. 18: PubMed Scopus Google Scholar). The of the Ku80 NLS and transfected mutant proteins and which have their nuclear localization and that the NLS was in Ku80. In was in both the nucleus and the that the not the NLS function of Ku80. as well as the wild-type Ku80 protein was in the nucleus a and that the not the NLS function of Ku80. These results suggest that the nuclear of exogenous Ku80 is not by dimerization with although the exogenous Ku80 is also involved in Ku70 was transfected into xrs-6 the normal protein the mutant proteins accumulated the In was the double mutant its nuclear localization as the NLS mutant These results indicate that the and not the nuclear localization of Ku80 in xrs-6 When or was transfected into xrs-6 cells, both mutant proteins accumulated the that the and not also the nuclear localization of Ku80 in xrs-6 cells On the other hand, the was transfected into xrs-6 cells, the have a which to the nucleus by each Ku has a NLS. their NLS nuclear in cells, which Ku70 and Ku80 that the wild-type Ku70 proteins accumulated the nucleus as shown in M. T. Miyasaka T. Shiomi T. Res. PubMed Scopus Google Scholar). the of the two Ku70 NLS and transfected into HeLa both mutant proteins accumulated in the nucleus in a of cells the results in the although as the mutant proteins accumulated in the in some cells not In the of the or the two mutant proteins to both the nucleus and the and that these a of can still translocate to the nucleus. these results suggest that Ku70 can translocate to the of NLS although Ku70 has a NLS. the we the role of NLS in the nuclear of Ku80. The of the Ku80 NLS and transfected into HeLa mutant proteins accumulated the nucleus as the wild-type Ku80 proteins M. T. Miyasaka T. Shiomi T. 18: PubMed Scopus Google Scholar). These results suggest that Ku80 can translocate to the nucleus independent of its own NLS In is that Ku70 and Ku80 exist as a we that of the Ku70 and Ku80 also in the cells in this M. Miyasaka T. Mimori T. Shiomi T. Biochem. Biophys. Res. Commun. 1998; 252: 679-685Crossref PubMed Scopus (30) Google Scholar, M. T. M. T. A. Shiomi T. J. Sci. Google Scholar). On the of this and the we two that both Ku subunits NLS that in HeLa cells but not cells or each Ku subunit to the localization of we have shown that a in the Ku70 to or its to with Ku80, whereas in the Ku80 to and its to with Ku70 M. T. Miyasaka T. Shiomi T. 18: PubMed Scopus Google M. Shiomi T. A. Biochem. Biophys. Res. Commun. PubMed Scopus Google Scholar). the in the Ku70- or mutant their with each other. The or was transfected into HeLa the of in of the HeLa cells by and and by M. Shiomi T. A. Biochem. Biophys. Res. Commun. PubMed Scopus Google of wild-type Ku80, and proteins with both the and the not When of wild-type Ku80, and proteins with the In the proteins detectable by with the shown in the with the wild-type Ku80, and or proteins In addition, the as well as the with the and not Ku70 or and These results indicate that of Ku70 and but not and the of Ku70 with Ku80. When of wild-type Ku80, and proteins with the In the proteins by with the shown in and the with the wild-type Ku80, and or proteins These results indicate that of Ku80 and but not and the of Ku80 with Mol. Cell. Biol. PubMed Scopus Google that a in Ku80 to its to with Ku70 in the in the and other in the Ku80 its with Ku70 in When of or wild-type Ku80, and or proteins with the and In the two proteins by with the These results indicate that the of Ku80 its with On the other hand, the was only the wild-type Ku proteins as the Ku70 double mutant both the NLS and the of heterodimerization is in the nucleus. When transfected into HeLa cells, the double mutant was in the In the accumulated the nucleus as shown in M. Shiomi T. A. Biochem. Biophys. Res. Commun. PubMed Scopus Google Scholar). In addition, accumulated in the nucleus in a of cells not These results suggest that the a of can translocate to the nucleus through the heterodimerization with Ku80 in HeLa the Ku80 double mutant both the NLS and the of heterodimerization is in the nucleus. transfected into HeLa cells, was in the whereas the and accumulated the nucleus and M. T. Miyasaka T. Shiomi T. 18: PubMed Scopus Google that Ku80 can translocate to the nucleus through the heterodimerization with Ku70 independent of its NLS. On the other hand, was transfected into HeLa cells, the as M. T. Miyasaka T. Shiomi T. Res. PubMed Scopus Google Scholar). we that a Ku80 mutant the of heterodimerization is in the nucleus, that Ku80 can translocate to the nucleus with Ku70 M. T. Miyasaka T. Shiomi T. 18: PubMed Scopus Google Scholar). other Ku80 the of heterodimerization in the nucleus and When transfected into HeLa cells, the two and in the nucleus and supporting the idea that Ku80 can translocate to the nucleus with findings suggest the that Ku70 and Ku80 can translocate to the nucleus not only through their own NLS but also through the nuclear of Ku70 and Ku80 was compared by of the two yellow variant GFP and a cyan variant GFP in xrs-6 of the GFP the wild-type Ku70 the wild-type Ku80 or the Ku80 mutant transfected in each protein in cells and each variant GFP protein accumulated the nucleus not the NLS-dysfunctional mutant or or double mutant both nuclear targeting and dimerization functions or transfected in each protein each variant GFP protein its nuclear localization not These results indicate that their was not due to the When and the accumulated the nucleus a and On the other hand, and the NLS-dysfunctional Ku70 mutant the accumulated the nucleus and supporting the idea that Ku70 can to the nucleus independent of its own NLS. In addition, the and the double mutant of Ku70 not the nucleus that Ku70 can translocate to the nucleus through the heterodimerization with Ku80. the role of Ku80 NLS in the nuclear of When both NLS-dysfunctional and not the nucleus and that the nuclear of Ku70 through the heterodimerization with Ku80 is Ku80 NLS. the role of Ku70 in the nuclear of Ku80. When and the NLS-dysfunctional Ku80 mutant the accumulated the nucleus and supporting the idea that Ku80 can to the nucleus independent of its own NLS. both NLS-dysfunctional and not the nucleus and that the nuclear of Ku80 through the heterodimerization with Ku70 is Ku70 NLS. On the other hand, the Ku70 and Ku80 double both proteins in the as and In and cells, both proteins the and these results suggest that the heterodimerization Ku70 and Ku80 plays an important role in the nuclear of these Ku In is that nuclear proteins an NLS the nucleus with NLS through their own Nature. 1997; PubMed Scopus Google Scholar). that Ku70 and Ku80 have an NLS and that the NLS can the of Ku70 and Ku80 M. T. Miyasaka T. Shiomi T. 18: PubMed Scopus Google Scholar, M. T. Miyasaka T. Shiomi T. Res. PubMed Scopus Google Scholar). In this we have the of the regulation of Ku70 and Ku80 localization In with we have that each Ku subunit can translocate to the nucleus through its own NLS M. T. Miyasaka T. Shiomi T. 18: PubMed Scopus Google Scholar, M. Shiomi T. A. Biochem. Biophys. Res. Commun. PubMed Scopus Google Scholar). Our have shown that each Ku subunit can also translocate to the nucleus independent of its own NLS and that this is its with the other Ku has been generally to always and function as a heterodimer. In of Ku70 in some that of Ku80-knockout mice (4Nussenzweig A. Chen C. da Costa Soares V. Sanchez M. Sokol K. Nussenzweig M.C. Li G.C. Nature. 1996; 382: 551-555Crossref PubMed Scopus (579) Google Scholar, 5Gu Y. Seidl K.J. Rathbun G.A. Zhu C. Manis J.P. van der Stoep N. Davidson L. Cheng H.L. Sekiguchi J.M. Frank K. Stanhope-Baker P. Schlissel M.S. Roth D.B. Alt F.W. Immunity. 1997; 7: 653-665Abstract Full Text Full Text PDF PubMed Scopus (381) Google Scholar, G.C. Li X. Chen D.J. Z. C. Mol. Cell. 1998; Full Text Full Text PDF PubMed Google Scholar, C. P. Roth D.B. Cell. 1996; Full Text Full Text PDF PubMed Scopus Google the that Ku70 and Ku80 have functions that independent of each other. we identified the of Ku70 and Ku80 M. T. Miyasaka T. Shiomi T. 18: PubMed Scopus Google Scholar, M. T. Miyasaka T. Shiomi T. Res. PubMed Scopus Google Scholar). In this the protein accumulated the of xrs-6 cells the NLS-dysfunctional mutant or its nuclear localization in cells and that Ku80 a NLS and that this NLS is In this and we also that the protein accumulated the cells M. Shiomi T. A. Biochem. Biophys. Res. Commun. PubMed Scopus Google Scholar). On the other hand, the NLS-dysfunctional mutant, its nuclear localization in cells These findings the idea that both Ku70 and Ku80 can translocate the to the nucleus a heterodimer their own NLS. in an of the of but not that of Ku80, and Ku70 accumulated the nucleus S. Chen J. J. Biol. Chem. Full Text Full Text PDF PubMed Scopus Google Scholar). the localization of Ku70 was by in cells, but that of Ku80 was not J. J. Sci. 1996; Google Scholar). In addition, the nuclear of Ku70 that of Ku80 the the M. T. Miyasaka T. Shiomi T. 18: PubMed Scopus Google Scholar). Ku subunit may have a NLS to functions, which independent of each although be to nuclear of Ku70 and Ku80 can be in The of of both Ku protein subunits and of Ku80 and Ku70 of the and the variant respectively M. T. Miyasaka T. Shiomi T. 18: PubMed Scopus Google Scholar, M. T. Miyasaka T. Shiomi T. Res. PubMed Scopus Google Scholar). we that the nuclear of Ku proteins is in the NLS and that this is by NLS with in have also that the heterodimerization Ku70 and Ku80 plays an important role in their nuclear When two NLS-dysfunctional Ku80 transfected into HeLa cells, both and to the nucleus However, which was a double mutant both nuclear targeting and dimerization functions, not translocate to the nucleus These results suggest that Ku70 the NLS-dysfunctional Ku80 into the nucleus in HeLa In xrs-6 cells, the Ku80 mutant only the nuclear targeting function was in the nucleus by the exogenous wild-type Ku70 In addition, the Ku80 mutant and NLS-dysfunctional Ku70 mutant not the nucleus and These results indicate that Ku70 Ku80 into the nucleus its own NLS in xrs-6 In this one role of Ku70 may be to the nuclear of Ku80. On the other hand, the NLS-dysfunctional Ku70 mutant, but not the double mutant both nuclear targeting and dimerization functions, was into the nucleus due to the presence of exogenous wild-type Ku80 and When the Ku70 mutant and NLS-dysfunctional Ku80 mutant not the nucleus and These results indicate that Ku80 can Ku70 into the nucleus its own NLS in However, the NLS-dysfunctional Ku70 mutant, which can still with Ku80, not to the nucleus the presence of Ku80 in HeLa cells and The of the Ku80 is M. J. Reeves W.H. J. Biol. 1995; Google whereas that of the protein was M. Y. PubMed Scopus Google Scholar). the the results in HeLa and in xrs-6 cells this may be due to the in Ku80 in HeLa cells and exogenous Ku80 in xrs-6 in HeLa cells, the Ku70 localization may be not only the nuclear but also the nuclear be to that Ku80 Ku70 into the nucleus in Ku70 and Ku80 an important role in DNA DSB repair and V(D)J recombination in vivo (4Nussenzweig A. Chen C. da Costa Soares V. Sanchez M. Sokol K. Nussenzweig M.C. Li G.C. Nature. 1996; 382: 551-555Crossref PubMed Scopus (579) Google Scholar, 5Gu Y. Seidl K.J. Rathbun G.A. Zhu C. Manis J.P. van der Stoep N. Davidson L. Cheng H.L. Sekiguchi J.M. Frank K. Stanhope-Baker P. Schlissel M.S. Roth D.B. Alt F.W. Immunity. 1997; 7: 653-665Abstract Full Text Full Text PDF PubMed Scopus (381) Google Scholar, G.C. Li X. Chen D.J. Z. C. Mol. Cell. 1998; Full Text Full Text PDF PubMed Google Scholar, C. P. Roth D.B. Cell. 1996; Full Text Full Text PDF PubMed Scopus Google Scholar). Heterodimerization Ku70 and Ku80 is essential for Ku-dependent DNA DSB repair in vivo (7Jin S. Weaver D.T. EMBO J. 1997; 16: 6874-6885Crossref PubMed Scopus (126) Google but the role of this in Ku functions It is also that the heterodimerization is required for the stabilization of each Ku subunit Y. Seidl K.J. Rathbun G.A. Zhu C. Manis J.P. van der Stoep N. Davidson L. Cheng H.L. Sekiguchi J.M. Frank K. Stanhope-Baker P. Schlissel M.S. Roth D.B. Alt F.W. Immunity. 1997; 7: 653-665Abstract Full Text Full Text PDF PubMed Scopus (381) Google Scholar, A. V. Hendrickson E.A. Mol. Cell. Biol. 1996; 16: PubMed Scopus Google Scholar, A. T. Mol. Cell. Biol. 1997; PubMed Scopus Google Scholar). On the other hand, T. S. M. J. S.K. J. Immunity. Full Text Full Text PDF PubMed Scopus Google that the DNA-PK of cells in by the nuclear of we have lines the wild-type Ku80 or NLS-dysfunctional Ku80 mutant tagged with have that the tagged wild-type Ku80 protein can a of the DNA DSB repair cells not In the tagged NLS-dysfunctional Ku80 mutant protein a of the DNA DSB repair of xrs-6 cells, although the Ku80 mutant protein is by tagged with not In we have shown a role of the heterodimerization of Ku70 and Ku80. Ku70 and Ku80 to have multiple functions as a and a that the Ku subunits may the nuclear to some independent of each and Ku subunits may the nuclear through to the functions each other. The for nuclear localization of Ku70 and Ku80 to in a key role in the function of Ku in to the of nuclear of the Ku subunits to a of the regulation of nuclear T. Mimori for with

PURPOSE: In radiotherapy with a scanned carbon-ion beam, its Bragg peak is shifted along the depth direction either by inserting the range shifter plates or by changing the beam-extraction energy of a synchrotron. In the former technique (range shifter scanning: RS), the range shifter plates broaden the beam size and produce secondary fragments through nuclear reactions. In the latter technique (active-energy scanning: ES), it may take several seconds to change the beam energy depending on the synchrotron operation cycle, leading to a long treatment time. The authors propose a hybrid depth scan technique (hybrid scanning: HS), where several beam energies are used in conjunction with the range shifter plates for finer range shift. In this study, HS is evaluated from the viewpoints of dose distribution and treatment time. METHODS: Assuming realistic accelerator and beam-delivery systems, the authors performed computer simulations using GEANT4 Monte Carlo code for beam modeling and a treatment planning system to evaluate HS. Three target volumes with the same dimensions of 60 × 60 × 60 mm(3) were generated at depths of 45, 85, and 125 mm in water phantom, and uniform clinical dose was planned for these targets. The sizes of lateral dose falloff and the peak to plateau ratio defined as the ratio of the clinical dose averaged over the target to the clinical dose at the entrance as well as the treatment time were compared among the three depth scan techniques. RESULTS: The sizes of lateral dose falloffs at the center of SOBP are 11.4, 8.5, and 5.9 mm for the three targets in RS, while they are 5.7, 4.8, and 4.6 mm in ES and 6.6, 5.7, and 5.0 mm in HS, respectively. The peak to plateau ratios are 1.39, 1.96, and 2.15 in RS, while they are 1.48, 2.04, and 2.19 in ES and 1.47, 2.03, and 2.18 in HS, respectively. The treatment times are 128.7, 128.6, and 128.6 s in ES, while they are 61.2, 54.6, and 47.8 s in RS and 43.2, 44.1, and 44.7 s in HS, respectively. The multiple scattering and the nuclear reaction by range shifter degraded the beam qualities such as lateral dose falloff and peak to plateau ratio, which was especially pronounced for the shallow target in RS. The depth scan timing was limited by accelerator cycle in ES. That increased the treatment time by a few times. CONCLUSIONS: This study revealed that HS can provide dose distributions with steeper lateral dose falloffs and higher peak to plateau ratio comparing to RS and comparable to ES. In addition, the treatment time can be considerably reduced in HS compared to ES.

A microstrip antenna designed for microsatellites with solar cells on the surface has been developed. High-gain antennas require a large surface area of the microsatellite, which reduces the area available for solar cells. By installing high-gain antenna arrays consisting of these microstrip antennas, the area required for solar cells is not reduced because the microstrip antenna has solar cells on its surface.

With a view to providing paramedical care within moving vehicles, a telemedicine technique using mobile satellite communication was proposed. With this technique, the diagnosis from a specialist and the emergency care under his/her instructions would be available on the spot without unnecessary delay. The characteristic problems of this technique were identified as: channel capacity, size of the system, reliability of vital sign transmission, real-time operation and electromagnetic interference. Measures against these problems were devised, and their effectiveness was analyzed. A data format was designed and an experimental system was developed. The system can simultaneously transmit a color image, an audio signal, 3 channels ECG and blood pressures from a mobile station to a ground station. It can transmit an audio signal and error control signals from a ground station to a mobile station in a full duplex mode. Fundamental transmission characteristics were measured in a fixed station. Finally, experiments of medical data transmission were conducted with a navigating ship and an aircraft flying an international route. The measured threshold values of C/N(o) to guarantee satisfactory data reception were well below the lower boundary of C/N(o) of the communication link. Consequently, the feasibility of this technique was verified.