Winter Road Safety -A Case Study in Azumi Village, Nagano-

This comparative and case study, undertaken from May 2000 to February 2004 at locations in Washington, Alaska and finally Nagano, Japan, focuses on a winter thoroughfare called the Kamikochi Norikura Super Rindo(herein: Forest Road) in the Azumi Village, which has been accosted with avalanche incidents and accidents for a number of years despite large investment in avalanche protection measures. In Japan, problems that are associated with winter both mountain travel safety to outdoor recreation safety are in many ways characterized by the issues which surround the risk management planning, use and management of this road. The problem in Azumi is of how to reduce the avalanche hazard along the Forest Road. In this paper, as an introduction and general overview in support of the ideas and concepts brought up body text, the current situation of avalanche work worldwide and in Japan is presented. One tendency seen in Japan is for heavy reliance on permanent measures such as the 88 snowfences constructed on the Forest Road at a huge expenditure(153,353,000JPY) in Azumi over the last 23 years. Avalanche forecast-ing is also rare, as demonstrated by only recent inclusion snowfall parameters for road closure purposes in Azumi. In North America and Europe, active avalanche control, which is the process of artificially releasing avalanches through explosive use, is popular as a temporary measure. Such protocol is often used to and complement to permanent measures such as earthworks or snowfences which redirect or reduce velocity of snow flow. In Switzerland alone 10,000kg explosives are used annually in avalanche control work. For the purposes of this study, operating models of bombing routes using hand-deployed charges and bomb trams which carry explosives to avalanche start zones as seen on field trips and inspected in Highway departments and ski areas in the US are proposed as a solution for the Forest Road in Azumi Village, Nagano, and investigated with respect to applicability, safety of use, legality, etc. The only legally hand-deployable charge in Japan, and major topic in this study is a new product called ACE(Avalanche Control Explosive) the research of which is facilitated through elementary on-snow testing. Through the course of this study it became evident that underlying the snow safety issue are issues in forest policy, road use planning, measure selection and funds appropriation. Delving further, it became clear that village and higher government may not have had access to a full range of internationally accepted options in the search for answers to problems of avalanche hazard reduction. In Azumi this inaccessibility to technology has resulted in expensive construction of inadequate permanent protection measures. Assuming that a program including active control could be formally made available to road managers at an attractive price, either deployment of charges by hand or light cableway would be suitable, albeit with some Japan-specific modifications. ACE are relatively low in total energy and their use would require some modification in size, and with respect to tram use it would be necessary to solve small engineering problems and determine which type of charge is explosive material bakes best economic and operational sense for the village. Both measures would require increasing the caliber and accuracy of the current forecasting program as well as unprecedented cooperation with road maintenance crews.Article信州大学農学部AFC報告 2: 35-65(2004)departmental bulletin pape

Gastrin-induced miR-222 promotes gastric tumor development by suppressing p27kip1

Background and Aims: Elevated circulating concentrations of the hormone gastrin contribute to the development of gastric adenocarcinoma and types-1 and 2 gastric neuroendocrine tumors (NETs). MicroRNAs (miRNAs) are small non-coding RNAs that post-transcriptionally regulate proteins which in turn influence various biological processes. We hypothesised that gastrin induces the expression of specific gastric miRNAs within CCK2 receptor (CCK2R) expressing cells and that these mediate functionally important actions of gastrin. Results: Gastrin increased miR-222 expression in AGSGR cells, with maximum changes observed at 10 nM G17 for 24 h. Signalling occurred via CCK2R and the PKC and PI3K pathways. miR-222 expression was increased in the serum and gastric corpus mucosa of hypergastrinemic INS-GAS mice and hypergastrinemic patients with autoimmune atrophic gastritis and type 1 gastric NETs; it decreased in patients following treatment with the CCK2R antagonist netazepide (YF476). Gastrin-induced miR-222 overexpression resulted in reduced expression and cytoplasmic mislocalisation of p27kip1, which in turn caused actin remodelling and increased migration in AGSGR cells. Materials and Methods: miRNA PCR arrays were used to identify changes in miRNA expression following G17 treatment of human gastric adenocarcinoma cells stably transfected with CCK2R (AGSGR). miR-222 was further investigated using primer assays and samples from hypergastrinemic mice and humans. Chemically synthesised mimics and inhibitors were used to assess cellular phenotypical changes associated with miR-222 dysregulation. Conclusions: These data indicate a novel mechanism contributing to gastrin-associated gastric tumor development. miR-222 may also be a promising biomarker for monitoring gastrin induced premalignant changes in the stomach

Winter Road Safety -A Case Study in Azumi Village, Nagano-

This comparative and case study, undertaken from May 2000 to February 2004 at locations in Washington, Alaska and finally Nagano, Japan, focuses on a winter thoroughfare called the Kamikochi Norikura Super Rindo(herein: Forest Road) in the Azumi Village, which has been accosted with avalanche incidents and accidents for a number of years despite large investment in avalanche protection measures. In Japan, problems that are associated with winter both mountain travel safety to outdoor recreation safety are in many ways characterized by the issues which surround the risk management planning, use and management of this road. The problem in Azumi is of how to reduce the avalanche hazard along the Forest Road. In this paper, as an introduction and general overview in support of the ideas and concepts brought up body text, the current situation of avalanche work worldwide and in Japan is presented. One tendency seen in Japan is for heavy reliance on permanent measures such as the 88 snowfences constructed on the Forest Road at a huge expenditure(153,353,000JPY) in Azumi over the last 23 years. Avalanche forecast-ing is also rare, as demonstrated by only recent inclusion snowfall parameters for road closure purposes in Azumi. In North America and Europe, active avalanche control, which is the process of artificially releasing avalanches through explosive use, is popular as a temporary measure. Such protocol is often used to and complement to permanent measures such as earthworks or snowfences which redirect or reduce velocity of snow flow. In Switzerland alone 10,000kg explosives are used annually in avalanche control work. For the purposes of this study, operating models of bombing routes using hand-deployed charges and bomb trams which carry explosives to avalanche start zones as seen on field trips and inspected in Highway departments and ski areas in the US are proposed as a solution for the Forest Road in Azumi Village, Nagano, and investigated with respect to applicability, safety of use, legality, etc. The only legally hand-deployable charge in Japan, and major topic in this study is a new product called ACE(Avalanche Control Explosive) the research of which is facilitated through elementary on-snow testing. Through the course of this study it became evident that underlying the snow safety issue are issues in forest policy, road use planning, measure selection and funds appropriation. Delving further, it became clear that village and higher government may not have had access to a full range of internationally accepted options in the search for answers to problems of avalanche hazard reduction. In Azumi this inaccessibility to technology has resulted in expensive construction of inadequate permanent protection measures. Assuming that a program including active control could be formally made available to road managers at an attractive price, either deployment of charges by hand or light cableway would be suitable, albeit with some Japan-specific modifications. ACE are relatively low in total energy and their use would require some modification in size, and with respect to tram use it would be necessary to solve small engineering problems and determine which type of charge is explosive material bakes best economic and operational sense for the village. Both measures would require increasing the caliber and accuracy of the current forecasting program as well as unprecedented cooperation with road maintenance crews.Articleapplication/pdf信州大学農学部AFC報告 2: 35-65(2004)departmental bulletin pape