A Dynamical Consideration on Earthquake Damages of Bridge Piers : First Report

As was also noted from the results of the Fukui Earthquake of June 1948, it is now quite evident that the earthquake damage of the bridge substructure decisively affects the damage of the whole bridge, directly or indirectly, with almost no exception. In view of this fact, it is attempted in this paper to make a dynamical study from both theoretical and experimental points of view on the mechanism of earthquake damages of the bridge substructure and thereby contribute to the earthquake-proof design and construction of bridge piers

NMR relaxation of quantum spin chains in magnetic fields

We investigate NMR relaxation rates 1/T_1 of quantum spin chains in magnetic fields. Universal properties for the divergence behavior of 1/T_1 are obtained in the Tomonaga-Luttinger-liquid state. The results are discussed in comparison with experimental results.Comment: 5 pages, 3 figure

Gorensteinness in Rees algebras of powers of parameter ideals

This paper gives a necessary and sufficient condition for Gorensteinness in Rees algebras of the $d$-th power of parameter ideals in certain Noetherian local rings of dimension $d\ge 2$. The main result of this paper produces many Gorenstein Rees algebras over non-Cohen-Macaulay local rings. For example, the Rees algebra $\mathcal{R}(\mathfrak{q}^d)=\oplus_{i\ge 0}\mathfrak{q}^{di}$ is Gorenstein for every parameter ideal $\mathfrak{q}$ that is a reduction of the maximal ideal in a $d$-dimensional Buchsbaum local ring of depth 1 and multiplicity 2.Comment: 29 page

Clinical results of Hi-tech Knee II total knee arthroplasty in patients with rheumatoid athritis: 5- to 12-year follow-up

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Total knee arthroplasty (TKA) is a common form of treatment to relieve pain and improve function in cases of rheumatoid arthritis (RA). Good clinical outcomes have been reported with a variety of TKA prostheses. The cementless Hi-Tech Knee II cruciate-retaining (CR)-type prosthesis, which has 6 fins at the anterior of the femoral component, posterior cruciate ligament (PCL) retention, flat-on-flat surface component geometry, all-polyethylene patella, strong initial fixation by the center screw of the tibial base plate, 10 layers of titanium alloy fiber mesh, and direct compression molded ultra high molecular weight polyethylene (UHMWPE), is appropriate for TKA in the Japanese knee.</p> <p>The present study was performed to evaluate the clinical results of primary TKA in RA using the cementless Hi-Tech Knee II CR-type prosthesis.</p> <p>Materials and methods</p> <p>We performed 32 consecutive primary TKAs using cementless Hi-Tech Knee II CR-type prosthesis in 31 RA patients. The average follow-up period was 8 years 3 months. Clinical evaluations were performed according to the American Knee Society (KS) system, knee score, function score, radiographic evaluation, and complications.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>The mean postoperative maximum flexion angle was 115.6°, and the KS knee score and function score improved to 88 and 70 after surgery, respectively. Complications, such as infection, occurred in 1 patient and revision surgery was performed. There were no cases of loosening in this cohort, and prosthesis survival rate was 96.9% at 12 years postoperatively.</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>These results suggest that TKA using the cementless Hi-Tech Knee II CR-type prosthesis is a very effective form of treatment in RA patients at 5 to 12 years postoperatively. Further long-term follow-up studies are required to determine the ultimate utility of this type of prosthesis.</p

All-Optical Waveguide-Type Switch Using Saturable Absorption in Graphene

An all-optical switch using saturable absorption that accompanies refractive-index change such as in graphene films is proposed. The switching conditions are theoretically derived for arbitrary values of absorption and refractive-index change. It is found that switching can be performed by weaker control light when the refractive-index change is accompanied in saturable absorption. Switching conditions for various combinations of absorption and refractive-index change are confirmed by FD-BPM simulation. As an experimental demonstration of saturable absorption in graphene, we discuss measured nonlinear absorption in a graphene-loaded waveguide. The saturable absorption and refractive-index change through vertically placed multilayered graphene sheets are also discussed based on reported experimental results

The Impact of Japan's 2004 Postgraduate Training Program on Intra-Prefectural Distribution of Pediatricians in Japan

Objective: Inequity in physician distribution poses a challenge to many health systems. In Japan, a new postgraduate training program for all new medical graduates was introduced in 2004, and researchers have argued that this program has increased inequalities in physician distribution. We examined the trends in the geographic distribution of pediatricians as well as all physicians from 1996 to 2010 to identify the impact of the launch of the new training program. Methods: The Gini coefficient was calculated using municipalities as the study unit within each prefecture to assess whether there were significant changes in the intra-prefectural distribution of all physicians and pediatricians before and after the launch of the new training program. The effect of the new program was quantified by estimating the difference in the slope in the time trend of the Gini coefficients before and after 2004 using a linear change-point regression design. We categorized 47 prefectures in Japan into two groups: 1) predominantly urban and 2) others by the definition from OECD to conduct stratified analyses by urban-rural status. Results: The trends in physician distribution worsened after 2004 for all physicians (p value<.0001) and pediatricians (p value = 0.0057). For all physicians, the trends worsened after 2004 both in predominantly urban prefectures (p value = 0.0012) and others (p value<0.0001), whereas, for pediatricians, the distribution worsened in others (p value = 0.0343), but not in predominantly urban prefectures (p value = 0.0584). Conclusion: The intra-prefectural distribution of physicians worsened after the launch of the new training program, which may reflect the impact of the new postgraduate program. In pediatrics, changes in the Gini trend differed significantly before and after the launch of the new training program in others, but not in predominantly urban prefectures. Further observation is needed to explore how this difference in trends affects the health status of the child population