Feature extraction from a digitized image is advantageous for the detection of signs of disease. In this work, we attempted to evaluate bone trabecular pattern changes in osteoporosis using the fractal dimension and the root mean square (RMS) values. The relationship between the fractal dimension and the 1st moment of the power spectrum is explored, and we investigated the relationship between the results of this analysis and the bone mineral density (BMD) value which was measured using dual-energy X-ray absorptiometry (DEXA). As a result, we were able to extract useful information, using the fractal dimension and the RMS value of the radiographs (lateral view of the lumbar vertebrae), for the diagnosis of osteoporosis. Abnormal clinical cases were separated from normal cases based on the evaluation values. Negligible correlation between the BMD value and these indexes was observed.

Background. Recent studies suggest that the daily intake of lemon (Citrus limon) has a good effect on health, but this has not been confirmed in humans. In our previous studies, it was observed that people who are conscious of their health performed more lemon intake and exercise. An analysis that took this into account was required. Methodology. For 101 middle-aged women in an island area in Hiroshima, Japan, a record of lemon ingestion efforts and the number of steps walked was carried out for five months. The change rates (Δ%) of the physical measurements, blood test, blood pressure, and pulse wave measured value during the observation period were calculated, and correlations with lemon intake and the number of steps walked were considered. As a result, it was suggested that daily lemon intake and walking are effective for high blood pressure because both showed significant negative correlation to systolic blood pressure Δ%. Conclusions. As a result of multiple linear regression analysis, it was possible that lemon ingestion is involved more greatly with the blood citric acid concentration Δ% and the number of steps with blood pressure Δ%, and it was surmised that the number of steps and lemon ingestion are related to blood pressure improvement by different action mechanisms.

Optical conductivity [σ(ω)] of PrRu4P12 has been studied under high pressure to 14 GPa, at low temperatures to 8 K, and at photon energies 12 meV-1.1 eV. The energy gap in σ(ω) at ambient pressure, caused by a metal-insulator transition due to an unconventional charge-density-wave formation at 63 K, is gradually filled in with increasing pressure to 10 GPa. At 14 GPa and below 30 K, σ(ω) exhibits a pronounced Drude-type component due to free carriers. This indicates that the initial insulating ground state at zero pressure has been turned into a metallic one at 14 GPa. This is consistent with a previous resistivity study under pressure, where the resistivity rapidly decreased with cooling below 30 K at 14 GPa. The evolution of electronic structure with pressure is discussed in terms of the hybridization between the 4f and conduction electrons.

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