Evaluation function of drinking ease from aluminum beverage bottles relative to optimum bottle opening diameter and beverage type

金沢大学理工研究域機械工学系In recent years, aluminum beverage bottles having screw tops with opening diameters of 28 and 38 mm have been launched in the Japanese market in keeping with the modern-day drinking habits of consumers. Although Japanese consumers are familiar with such bottles, a majority of them feel that the 28 mm opening is too small and the 38 mm opening is too large. Therefore, we felt the need to develop a method for evaluating consumer feelings when they drink a beverage directly from the bottle opening. For this purpose, we propose an evaluation function of drinking ease that calculates the optimum opening diameter of the bottle. From results of our previous study, we know that there exists an ideal volume of beverage flowing into the mouth, at which consumers feel most comfortable while drinking directly from bottles. Therefore, we define the evaluation function of drinking ease in terms of the difference between the actual volume of fluid in the mouth and the expected ideal volume. If this difference is small, consumers probably feel comfortable while drinking the beverage. We consider a design variable, i.e., the opening diameter, and two state variables, i.e., the volume of beverage remaining in the bottle and the height of consumers, and construct the response surface of the evaluation function by using radial basis function networks. In addition, for investigating the influence of beverage type on the evaluation function, we select green tea and a carbonated beverage (Coke) as test beverages. Results of optimization of the proposed function show that when the opening diameters are 35.4 mm and 34.4 mm in the case of green tea and Coke, respectively, the actual volume of fluid in the mouth is closest to the ideal volume and the participants feel most comfortable. These results are in agreement with results of our previous study that an opening diameter of 33 mm is optimum for young Japanese adults. Thus, we confirm that the proposed function is accurate; it can be used to design bottle openings to suit consumers of various age groups and types of beverages. © 2011 Elsevier Ltd and The Ergonomics Society

Evaluation of physical workload affected by mass and center of mass of head-mounted display

金沢大学新学術創成研究機構Embargo Periods 12 Month

Development of evaluation function for openability of opening diameter of aluminum beverage bottles and its application to optimum design

The present paper proposes an evaluation function of openability considering the transition of gripping postures, i.e. two-finger gripping and three-finger gripping, so as to evaluate opening ease of aluminum beverage bottles and to specify the rigorous dimension of the cap diameter that is best suited for consumers\u27 satisfaction. First, we have investigated effects of cap diameter on the gripping postures. It is found that subjects tend to shift the gripping posture from two-finger gripping (gripping with thumb and first finger) to threefinger gripping (gripping with thumb, first, and second finger) with increase of the opening diameter. An evaluation function is defined as a ratio between maximum torques that consumers can apply and a required torque for opening. In addition, the cap diameter is the only design variable, and the thumb length, which associates with the transition of the gripping postures and a maximum gripping force, is selected as a state variable in order to take individual differences into consideration. Moreover, an evaluation function is formulated considering the transition of the gripping postures of consumers. The function is composed by using the data obtained from measurement of the maximum gripping force, the maximum torque, and the thumb length, and then the function is optimized. The result of optimization has shown that the optimum opening diameter is obtained at 28.0 mm in case of the subjects. © 2010 by the American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics, Inc. All rights reserved

Evaluation of drinking ease relative to the opening diameter and beverage type of aluminum beverage bottles

金沢大学理工研究域機械工学系This paper investigates the effects of different bottle opening sizes (28, 33, and 38 mm in diameter) and beverage types (e.g. green tea, carbonated beverages) on the drinking satisfaction of consumers, in order to enhance their comfort levels when drinking from aluminum beverage bottles. A survey of 120 Japanese subjects was conducted, and the 33 mm opening size emerged as the most preferred, irrespective of beverage type. The factor analysis results of the questionnaire show that drinking satisfaction is primarily affected by two common factors: the volume of flow from the bottle to the mouth and the adjustability of the flow. The results of the three-dimensional fluid-dynamics analysis indicate that differences in beverage type could influence what consumers regard as an appropriate flow. © 2009 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved

Evaluation method of drinking ease for aluminum beverage bottles

金沢大学理工研究域機械工学系This paper has investigated effects of the bottle opening size on drinking feelings in order to improve the comfort level of consumers when drinking directly from the opening of aluminum bottle. A survey over 120 subjects has been performed based on a drinking test using three kinds of bottles with opening diameters of 28, 33 and 38 mm, respectively. Two questionnaires have been conducted. Statistical analysis results of Questionnaire 1 have shown that 33-mm opening is best for adult consumers with no matter the type of contents, gender and the mouth size. The factor analysis results of Questionnaire 2 based on Kansei Engineering have shown that drinking feeling is affected by two common factors, which considered as the flow from the bottle to the mouth and the flow adjustability. Moreover, the fluid-dynamics analysis model has been developed to simulate the bottled liquid in a drinking action consisting of survey results and experimental observations of consumers\u27 drinking actions. Numerical simulations have been performed to understand how consumers control the flow during the drinking actions. It is found that the consumers usually try to realize the ideal and preferable condition by adjusting the inclination angle of the bottle. Copyright © 2007 by ASME

Analysis of DOC and Ram for NSCLC

Background: Current clinical trials demonstrated that combination regimens comprising chemotherapy and immunotherapy lead to better patient outcomes compared to chemotherapy alone as the first line of treatment for non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC). In addition, the combination therapy of docetaxel (Doc) and ramucirumab (Ram) was considered one of the standard treatments for advanced or relapsed NSCLC patients. However, little is known about the therapeutic responders of this combination therapy among previously treated NSCLC patients. In the present study, we aimed to identify predictive factors for therapeutic response, including programmed death-ligand 1 (PD-L1) expression in tumors, for Doc treatment in combination with Ram. Methods: We retrospectively analyzed a total of 135 advanced or relapsed NSCLC patients who were refractory to platinum-based chemotherapy at eleven institutions in Japan between July 2016 and November 2018. Results: Our observations showed that PD-L1 expression in tumors is not associated with the efficacy of combined therapy of Doc and Ram in previously treated NSCLC patients. Analysis of the patient clinical profiles indicated that prior treatment with immune checkpoint inhibitors (ICIs) is a reliable predictor for the good progression-free survival (PFS) to this combination therapy (P=0.041). Conclusions: Our retrospective study indicated that combination regimens comprising chemotherapy and ICIs followed by Doc and Ram could be an optimal therapeutic option for NSCLC patients regardless of the PD-L1 status of tumors. Further investigations are required to strengthen clinical evidence demonstrating the effectiveness of the combination therapy of Doc plus Ram in previously treated NSCLC patients

The whole blood transcriptional regulation landscape in 465 COVID-19 infected samples from Japan COVID-19 Task Force

「コロナ制圧タスクフォース」COVID-19患者由来の血液細胞における遺伝子発現の網羅的解析 --重症度に応じた遺伝子発現の変化には、ヒトゲノム配列の個人差が影響する--. 京都大学プレスリリース. 2022-08-23.Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is a recently-emerged infectious disease that has caused millions of deaths, where comprehensive understanding of disease mechanisms is still unestablished. In particular, studies of gene expression dynamics and regulation landscape in COVID-19 infected individuals are limited. Here, we report on a thorough analysis of whole blood RNA-seq data from 465 genotyped samples from the Japan COVID-19 Task Force, including 359 severe and 106 non-severe COVID-19 cases. We discover 1169 putative causal expression quantitative trait loci (eQTLs) including 34 possible colocalizations with biobank fine-mapping results of hematopoietic traits in a Japanese population, 1549 putative causal splice QTLs (sQTLs; e.g. two independent sQTLs at TOR1AIP1), as well as biologically interpretable trans-eQTL examples (e.g., REST and STING1), all fine-mapped at single variant resolution. We perform differential gene expression analysis to elucidate 198 genes with increased expression in severe COVID-19 cases and enriched for innate immune-related functions. Finally, we evaluate the limited but non-zero effect of COVID-19 phenotype on eQTL discovery, and highlight the presence of COVID-19 severity-interaction eQTLs (ieQTLs; e.g., CLEC4C and MYBL2). Our study provides a comprehensive catalog of whole blood regulatory variants in Japanese, as well as a reference for transcriptional landscapes in response to COVID-19 infection

DOCK2 is involved in the host genetics and biology of severe COVID-19

「コロナ制圧タスクフォース」COVID-19疾患感受性遺伝子DOCK2の重症化機序を解明 --アジア最大のバイオレポジトリーでCOVID-19の治療標的を発見--. 京都大学プレスリリース. 2022-08-10.Identifying the host genetic factors underlying severe COVID-19 is an emerging challenge. Here we conducted a genome-wide association study (GWAS) involving 2, 393 cases of COVID-19 in a cohort of Japanese individuals collected during the initial waves of the pandemic, with 3, 289 unaffected controls. We identified a variant on chromosome 5 at 5q35 (rs60200309-A), close to the dedicator of cytokinesis 2 gene (DOCK2), which was associated with severe COVID-19 in patients less than 65 years of age. This risk allele was prevalent in East Asian individuals but rare in Europeans, highlighting the value of genome-wide association studies in non-European populations. RNA-sequencing analysis of 473 bulk peripheral blood samples identified decreased expression of DOCK2 associated with the risk allele in these younger patients. DOCK2 expression was suppressed in patients with severe cases of COVID-19. Single-cell RNA-sequencing analysis (n = 61 individuals) identified cell-type-specific downregulation of DOCK2 and a COVID-19-specific decreasing effect of the risk allele on DOCK2 expression in non-classical monocytes. Immunohistochemistry of lung specimens from patients with severe COVID-19 pneumonia showed suppressed DOCK2 expression. Moreover, inhibition of DOCK2 function with CPYPP increased the severity of pneumonia in a Syrian hamster model of SARS-CoV-2 infection, characterized by weight loss, lung oedema, enhanced viral loads, impaired macrophage recruitment and dysregulated type I interferon responses. We conclude that DOCK2 has an important role in the host immune response to SARS-CoV-2 infection and the development of severe COVID-19, and could be further explored as a potential biomarker and/or therapeutic target

自動車の室内空間がドライバーの運転余裕に与える影響の定量化

金沢大学新学術創成研究機構本研究では，眼球運動の計測データから自動車運転時の認知負担を定量化すること，および車室空間の設計が認知負担に与える影響を評価することを目的とした．ドライビングシミュレータを使った運転タスクと認知負担を制御するための副次課題を同時に課す実験を行い，認知負担の評価に有用な眼球運動パラメータを抽出した．また，機械学習における異常検知を応用して認知負担を定量化する手法を提案した．そして，提案手法を適用し，車室空間の高さが認知負担に与える影響を評価した．This study aimed to quantify the mental workload of driving a car from eye movement measurement data, and to evaluate the influence of cabin space construction on mental workload. We conducted an experiment in which a driving task using a driving simulator and a secondary task to control the mental workload were imposed simultaneously, and we extracted eye movement parameters useful for evaluating the mental workload. We also proposed a method to quantify mental workload by applying anomaly detection in a machine learning framework. We then applied the proposed method to evaluate the effect of cabin space height on mental workload.研究課題/領域番号:18K03898, 研究期間(年度):2018-04-01 – 2021-03-31出典：「自動車の室内空間がドライバーの運転余裕に与える影響の定量化」研究成果報告書　課題番号18K03898（KAKEN：科学研究費助成事業データベース（国立情報学研究所）） （https://kaken.nii.ac.jp/ja/report/KAKENHI-PROJECT-18K03898/18K03898seika/）を加工して作