Music-experience-related and musical-error-dependent activations in the brain.

Although music is one of human-unique traits such as language, its neural basis for cortical organization has not been well understood. In the present functional magnetic resonance imaging study, we tested an error-detection task with different types of musical error (pitch, tempo, stress, and articulation conditions) and examined three groups of secondary school students having different levels of music experience. First, we observed distinct activation patterns under these music conditions, such that specific activations under the pitch condition were consistently replicated for all tested groups in the auditory areas, as well as in the left language areas under the articulation condition. Second, music-experience-related activations were observed in multiple regions, including the right sensorimotor area under the pitch condition, as well as in the right premotor cortex under the articulation condition. Indeed, the right homologs of the language areas were specifically activated under the stress and articulation conditions. Third, activations specific to the group with the highest proficiency in music were observed under the tempo condition mostly in the right regions. These results demonstrate the existence of music-related signatures in the brain activations, including both universal and experience-related mechanisms.

Comparison of the UNSCEAR isodose maps for annual external exposure in Fukushima with those obtained based on airborne monitoring surveys.

In 2016, UNSCEAR published an attachment to its Fukushima 2015 White Paper, entitled 'Development of isodose maps representing annual external exposure in Japan as a function of time', in which the committee presented an annual additional 1 mSv effective dose ab extra isodose lines for 1, 3, 5, 10, 30, 50 years after the accident, based on the soil deposition data of radionuclides within 100 km of the Fukushima Dai-ichi Nuclear Power Plant. Meanwhile, the median of the ratio, c, between the external effective dose rates and the ambient dose equivalent rates 1 m above the ground obtained by airborne monitoring has been established to be [Formula: see text]. Here, we compare the UNSCEAR predictions with estimates based on the airborne monitoring. Although both the methods and the data used in the two approaches are different, the resultant contours show relatively good agreement. However, to improve the accuracy of long-term annual effective isodose lines, feedback from continuous measurements such as airborne monitoring is important.

Individual external dose monitoring of all citizens of Date City by passive dosimeter 5 to 51 months after the Fukushima NPP accident (series): II. Prediction of lifetime additional effective dose and evaluating the effect of decontamination on individual dose.

In the first paper of this series, we showed that the ratio c of individual dose to ambient dose did not change with time in Date City, Fukushima Prefecture, after the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant accident. The purpose of the present paper, the second in a series, is to estimate the lifetime doses of the Date City residents, based on continuous glass badge monitoring data, extrapolated by means of the ambient-dose-rate reduction function obtained from the airborne monitoring data. As a result, we found that the external exposure contribution to the mean additional lifetime dose of residents living in Date City is not expected to exceed 18 mSv. In addition, effects of decontamination on the reduction of individual doses were not evident. This method of combining individual doses and the ambient doses, as developed in this study, has made it possible to predict with reasonable certainty the lifetime doses of residents who continue to live in this radiologically contaminated area.

Individual external dose monitoring of all citizens of Date City by passive dosimeter 5 to 51 months after the Fukushima NPP accident (series): 1. Comparison of individual dose with ambient dose rate monitored by aircraft surveys.

Date (da'te) City in Fukushima Prefecture has conducted a population-wide individual dose monitoring program after the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant Accident, which provides a unique and comprehensive data set of the individual doses of citizens. The purpose of this paper, the first in the series, is to establish a method for estimating effective doses based on the available ambient dose rate survey data. We thus examined the relationship between the individual external doses and the corresponding ambient doses assessed from airborne surveys. The results show that the individual doses were about 0.15 times the ambient doses, the coefficient of 0.15 being a factor of 4 smaller than the value employed by the Japanese government, throughout the period of the airborne surveys used. The method obtained in this study could aid in the prediction of individual doses in the early phase of future radiological accidents involving large-scale contamination.

Buffer-gas cooling of antiprotonic helium to 1.5 to 1.7 K, and antiproton-to-electron mass ratio.

Charge, parity, and time reversal (CPT) symmetry implies that a particle and its antiparticle have the same mass. The antiproton-to-electron mass ratio [Formula: see text] can be precisely determined from the single-photon transition frequencies of antiprotonic helium. We measured 13 such frequencies with laser spectroscopy to a fractional precision of 2.5 × 10-9 to 16 × 10-9 About 2 × 109 antiprotonic helium atoms were cooled to temperatures between 1.5 and 1.7 kelvin by using buffer-gas cooling in cryogenic low-pressure helium gas; the narrow thermal distribution led to the observation of sharp spectral lines of small thermal Doppler width. The deviation between the experimental frequencies and the results of three-body quantum electrodynamics calculations was reduced by a factor of 1.4 to 10 compared with previous single-photon experiments. From this, [Formula: see text] was determined as 1836.1526734(15), which agrees with a recent proton-to-electron experimental value within 8 × 10-10.

Dependence of radiation dose on the behavioral patterns among school children: a retrospective analysis 18 to 20 months following the 2011 Fukushima nuclear incident in Japan.

After radioactive incidents, the exposure risk in daily activities among children is a major public concern. However, there are limited methods available for evaluation of this risk, which is essential to future health risk management. To this end, this study assessed the relationship between behavioral patterns of school children and radiation exposure for a period of 18-20 months following the 2011 Fukushima nuclear incident. The assessed population comprised 520 school children from Minamisoma city, located 20 km north of the nuclear plant. Data for the doses were obtained using individual dosimeters and from results of a behavior survey administered by the City Office. The mean value of the doses in the study period was 0.34 mSv, with a standard deviation of 0.14 mSv, indicating an annual dose of ∼1.36 mSv, which includes doses from natural sources. Our results showed that behavior with respect to outdoor activities had no statistically significant relationship to the dose. A 0.1 µSv/h increase in the air dose rate at home was associated with a 10% increase in the dose; however, a 0.01 µSv/h increase in the air dose rate on the school grounds was associated with a 2% increase in the dose. This study indicates that the air contamination levels at the places where children spend most of their day are the significant predictors of the dose, as opposed to the levels at those outdoor locations in which short periods of time spent.

An evaluation of early countermeasures to reduce the risk of internal radiation exposure after the Fukushima nuclear incident in Japan.

After a radiation-release incident, intake of radionuclides in the initial stage immediately following the incident may be the major contributor to total internal radiation exposure for individuals in affected areas. However, evaluation of early internal contamination risk is greatly lacking. This study assessed the relationship between initial stage evacuation/indoor sheltering and internal radiation contamination levels 4 months after the 2011 Fukushima nuclear incident in Japan and estimated potential pathways of the contamination. The study population comprised 525 participants in the internal radiation screening program at Minamisoma Municipal General Hospital, 23 km north of the Fukushima nuclear plant. The analysed dataset included the results of a screening performed in July 2011, 4 months after the incident, and of a questionnaire on early-incident response behaviours, such as sheltering indoors and evacuations, completed by participants. Association between such early countermeasures and internal contamination levels of cesium-134 were assessed using Tobit multiple regression analyses. Our study shows that individuals who evacuated to areas outside Fukushima Prefecture had similar contamination levels of cesium-134 to individuals who stayed in Fukushima (relative risk: 0.86; 95% confidence interval: 0.74-0.99). Time spent outdoors had no significant relationship with contamination levels. The effects of inhalation from radiological plumes released from the nuclear plant on total internal radiation contamination might be so low as to be undetectable by the whole-body counting unit used to examine participants. Given the apparent limited effectiveness of evacuation and indoor sheltering on internal contamination, the decision to implement such early responses to a radiation-release incident should be made by carefully balancing their potential benefits and health risks.

Minimal Internal Radiation Exposure in Residents Living South of the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant Disaster.

Following the Fukushima nuclear power plant disaster, assessment of internal radiation exposure was indispensable to predict radiation-related health threats to residents of neighboring areas. Although many evaluations of internal radiation in residents living north and west of the crippled Fukushima nuclear power plant are available, there is little information on residents living in areas south of the plant, which were similarly affected by radio-contamination from the disaster. To assess the internal radio-contamination in residents living in affected areas to the south of the plant or who were evacuated into Iwaki city, a whole body counter (WBC) screening program of internal radio-contamination was performed on visitors to the Jyoban hospital in Iwaki city, which experienced less contamination than southern areas adjacent to the nuclear plant. The study included 9,206 volunteer subjects, of whom 6,446 were schoolchildren aged 4-15 years. Measurements began one year after the incident and were carried out over the course of two years. Early in the screening period only two schoolchildren showed Cs-137 levels that were over the detection limit (250 Bq/body), although their Cs-134 levels were below the detection limit (220 Bq/body). Among the 2,760 adults tested, 35 (1.3%) had detectable internal radio-contamination, but only for Cs-137 (range: 250 Bq/body to 859 Bq/body), and not Cs-134. Of these 35 subjects, nearly all (34/35) showed elevated Cs-137 levels only during the first year of the screening. With the exception of potassium 40, no other radionuclides were detected during the screening period. The maximum annual effective dose calculated from the detected Cs-137 levels was 0.029 and 0.028 mSv/year for the schoolchildren and adults, respectively, which is far below the 1 mSv/year limit set by the government of Japan. Although the data for radiation exposure during the most critical first year after the incident are unavailable due to a lack of systemic measurements, the present results suggest that internal radio-contamination levels more than one year after the incident were minimal for residents living south of the crippled Fukushima nuclear plant, and that the annual additional effective doses derived from internal Cs contamination were negligible. Thus, internal radio-contamination of residents living in southern radio-contaminated areas appears to be generally well controlled.

Whole-body counter surveys of over 2700 babies and small children in and around Fukushima Prefecture 33 to 49 months after the Fukushima Daiichi NPP accident.

BABYSCAN, a whole-body counter (WBC) for small children was developed in 2013, and units have been installed at three hospitals in Fukushima Prefecture. Between December, 2013 and March, 2015, 2707 children between the ages of 0 and 11 have been scanned, and none had detectable levels of radioactive cesium. The minimum detectable activities (MDAs) for (137)Cs were ≤ 3.5 Bq kg(-1) for ages 0-1, decreasing to ≤ 2 Bq kg(-1) for ages 10-11. Including the (134)Cs contribution, these translate to a maximum committed effective dose of ∼ 16 µSv y(-1) even for newborn babies, and therefore the internal exposure risks can be considered negligibly small.Analysis of the questionnaire filled out by the parents of the scanned children regarding their families' food and water consumption revealed that the majority of children residing in the town of Miharu regularly consume local or home-grown rice and vegetables, while in Minamisoma, a majority avoid tap water and produce from Fukushima. The data show, however, no correlation between consumption of locally produced food and water and the children's body burdens.

Whole-body counter surveys of Miharu-town school children for four consecutive years after the Fukushima NPP accident.

Comprehensive whole-body counter surveys of Miharu-town school children have been conducted for four consecutive years, in 2011-2014. This represents the only long-term sampling-bias-free study of its type conducted after the Fukushima Dai-ichi accident. For the first time in 2014, a new device called the Babyscan, which has a low (134/137)Cs MDA of <50 Bq/body, was used to screen the children shorter than 130 cm. No child in this group was found to have detectable level of radiocesium. Using the MDAs, upper limits of daily intake of radiocesium were estimated for each child. For those screened with the Babyscan, the upper intake limits were found to be ≲1 Bq/day for (137)Cs. Analysis of a questionnaire filled out by the children's parents regarding their food and water consumption shows that the majority of Miharu children regularly consume local and/or home-grown rice and vegetables. This however does not increase the body burden.

Compliance with the proper use of an individual radiation dosimeter among children and the effects of improper use on the measured dose: a retrospective study 18-20 months following Japan's 2011 Fukushima nuclear incident.

OBJECTIVES: To identify profiles of children who did not properly use individual radiation dosimeters following Japan's 2011 Fukushima nuclear incident, and to assess how much error is generated by improper dosimeter use. PARTICIPANTS: The participants in this study comprised 1637 school children who participated in the external radiation exposure screening programme administrated by Minamisoma City (located 20-30 km from the Fukushima nuclear plant) between 18 and 20 months after the Fukushima incident. METHODS: We assessed the factors associated with improper use (non-use) of the dosimeters at specific time periods during the day (school commuting hours, at school, at home, outdoors and at bedtime) using logistic regression analyses. Ratios of the measured dose to regression estimates of the 'expected' dose (referred to as an error due to non-use) were also examined. RESULTS: Only 119 children (7.3%) used the dosimeters properly in all time periods. This low rate was attributed primarily to non-use when children were in the home and outdoors, rather than at school. School level, air dose rate at home, gender, membership in outdoor sports clubs and time spent outdoors on weekends, were significantly associated with improper use, after adjustment for covariates. Data from children who did not wear the dosimeters to school and outdoors had statistically significant (but clinically insignificant) errors (ratio: 1.13, p<0.01; and 0.97, p<0.05, respectively), whereas improper use of the dosimeters at school, at home and at bedtime did not generate significant errors. CONCLUSIONS: Well-targeted rigorous instructions on the use of the dosimeter are required, with particular focus on time periods other than school hours. However, given the small dose error due to the improper use of the dosimeters, even if the dosimeters are improperly used, solid evaluation of the radiation exposure may be possible with some accuracy.

Comparison between direct measurements and modeled estimates of external radiation exposure among school children 18 to 30 months after the Fukushima nuclear accident in Japan.

After a major radioactive incident, accurate dose reconstruction is important for evaluating health risks and appropriate radiation protection policies. After the 2011 Japan Fukushima nuclear incident, we assessed the level of agreement between the modeled and directly measured dose and estimated the uncertainties. The study population comprised 520 school children from Minamisoma city, located 20 km north of the nuclear plant. The annual dose 18­30 months after the incident was assessed using two approaches: estimation using the model proposed by the Japanese government and direct measurement by radiation dosemeters. The ratio of the average of modeled and measured doses was 3.0 (standard deviation (SD): 2.0). The reduction coefficient, an index for radiation attenuation properties, was 0.3 (SD: 0.1) on average, whereas the value used in the government model was 0.6. After adjusting for covariates, the coefficient had a significant negative correlation with the air dose rate in the dwelling location (p < 0.001), indicating that stronger building shielding effects are valuable in areas with higher air contamination levels. The present study demonstrated that some overestimation may have been related to uncertainties in radiation reduction effects, and that the air contamination level might provide a more important indicator of these effects.

Whole-body counter survey results 4 months after the Fukushima Dai-ichi NPP accident in Minamisoma City, Fukushima.

Using the first WBC unit installed in Fukushima Prefecture after the accident, the radiocesium body burdens of 566 high-risk residents of Minamisoma city were measured in July 2011 at the Minamisoma Municipal General Hospital. The analysis of the data was challenging because this chair-type, WBC unit, did not have sufficient shielding against background gamma rays and methods had to be developed to reliably compensate for the body-attenuated background radiation. Fortunately, data for repeated tests of hospital staff members using both the chair-type and well-shielded FASTSCAN WBC units, installed in September 2011, were available and could be used to check the validity of the analysis. The CEDs of all subjects, estimated under the assumption of acute inhalation in March 2011, were found to be less than 1 mSv.

BABYSCAN: a whole body counter for small children in Fukushima.

BABYSCAN, a whole body counter for small children with a detection limit for (137)Cs of better than 50 Bq/body, was developed, and the first unit has been installed at a hospital in Fukushima, to help families with small children who are very much concerned about internal exposures. The design principles, implementation details and the initial operating experience are described.

Comprehensive whole-body counter surveys of Miharu-town school children for three consecutive years after the Fukushima NPP accident.

Comprehensive whole-body counter surveys covering over 93% of the school children between the ages of 6 and 15 in Miharu town, Fukushima Prefecture, have been conducted for three consecutive years, in 2011, 2012 and 2013. Although the results of a questionnaire indicate that approximately 60% of the children have been regularly eating local or home-grown rice, in 2012 and 2013 no child was found to exceed the (137)Cs detection limit of 300 Bq/body.

Reduction of high levels of internal radio-contamination by dietary intervention in residents of areas affected by the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant disaster: a case series.

Maintaining low levels of chronic internal contamination among residents in radiation-contaminated areas after a nuclear disaster is a great public health concern. However, the efficacy of reduction measures for individual internal contamination remains unknown. To reduce high levels of internal radiation exposure in a group of individuals exposed through environmental sources, we performed careful dietary intervention with identification of suspected contaminated foods, as part of mass voluntary radiation contamination screenings and counseling program in Minamisoma Municipal General Hospital and Hirata Central Hospital. From a total of 30,622 study participants, only 9 residents displayed internal cesium-137 (Cs-137) levels of more than 50 Bq/kg. The median level of internal Cs-137 contamination in these residents at the initial screening was 4,830 Bq/body (range: 2,130-15,918 Bq/body) and 69.6 Bq/kg (range: 50.7-216.3 Bq/kg). All these residents with high levels of internal contamination consumed homegrown produce without radiation inspection, and often collected mushrooms in the wild or cultivated them on bed-logs in their homes. They were advised to consume distributed food mainly and to refrain from consuming potentially contaminated foods without radiation inspection and local produces under shipment restrictions such as mushrooms, mountain vegetables, and meat of wild life. A few months after the intervention, re-examination of Cs levels revealed remarkable reduction of internal contamination in all residents. Although the levels of internal radiation exposure appear to be minimal amongst most residents in Fukushima, a subset of the population, who unknowingly consumed highly contaminated foodstuffs, experienced high levels of internal contamination. There seem to be similarities in dietary preferences amongst residents with high internal contamination levels, and intervention based on pre- and post-test counseling and dietary advice from medical care providers about risky food intake appears to be a feasible option for changing residents' dietary practices, subsequently resulting in a reduction in Cs internal contamination levels.

Limited internal radiation exposure associated with resettlements to a radiation-contaminated homeland after the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear disaster.

Resettlement to their radiation-contaminated hometown could be an option for people displaced at the time of a nuclear disaster; however, little information is available on the safety implications of these resettlement programs. Kawauchi village, located 12-30 km southwest of the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant, was one of the 11 municipalities where mandatory evacuation was ordered by the central government. This village was also the first municipality to organize the return of the villagers. To assess the validity of the Kawauchi villagers' resettlement program, the levels of internal Cesium (Cs) exposures were comparatively measured in returnees, commuters, and non-returnees among the Kawauchi villagers using a whole body counter. Of 149 individuals, 5 villagers had traceable levels of Cs exposure; the median detected level was 333 Bq/body (range, 309-1050 Bq/kg), and 5.3 Bq/kg (range, 5.1-18.2 Bq/kg). Median annual effective doses of villagers with traceable Cs were 1.1 x 10(-2) mSv/y (range, 1.0 x 10(-2)-4.1 x 10(-2) mSv/y). Although returnees had higher chances of consuming locally produced vegetables, Cochran-Mantel-Haenszel test showed that their level of internal radiation exposure was not significantly higher than that in the other 2 groups (p=0.643). The present findings in Kawauchi village imply that it is possible to maintain internal radiation exposure at very low levels even in a highly radiation-contaminated region at the time of a nuclear disaster. Moreover, the risks for internal radiation exposure could be limited with a strict food control intervention after resettlement to the radiation-contaminated village. It is crucial to establish an adequate number of radio-contaminated testing sites within the village, to provide immediate test result feedback to the villagers, and to provide education regarding the importance of re-testing in reducing the risk of high internal radiation exposure.

Measurement of internal radiation exposure among decontamination workers in villages near the crippled Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant.

Decontamination workers may face a high risk of exposure to internal irradiation through inhalation during decontamination activities; there is, however, little previous research on the levels of internal contamination during decontamination procedures. The authors reviewed the medical records, including whole body counter measurements, of decontamination workers in villages near the crippled Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant to assess their levels of internal radiation exposure. In total, 83 decontamination workers were enrolled in this study. They were regularly engaged in decontamination activities in highly contaminated areas where surface 137Cs deposition density was over 100 kBq m-2. The present study showed low levels of internal exposure among the decontamination workers near the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant. The cesium burdens of all the decontamination workers were below detection limits. They had reported no acute health problems. The resuspension of radioactive materials may cause minimal internal contamination during decontamination activities.