Urban warming and future air-conditioning use in an Asian megacity: importance of positive feedback

The impact of feedback between urban warming and air-conditioning (AC) use on temperatures in future urban climates is explored in this study. Pseudo global warming projections are dynamically downscaled to 1 km using a regional climate model (RCM) coupled to urban canopy and building energy models for current and six future global warming (ΔTGW) climates based on IPCC RCP8.5. Anthropogenic heat emissions from AC use is projected to increase almost linearly with ΔTGW, causing additional urban warming. This feedback on urban warming reaches 20% of ΔTGW in residential areas. This further uncertainty in future projections is comparable in size to that associated with: a selection of emission scenarios, RCMs and urban planning scenarios. Thus, this feedback should not be neglected in future urban climate projections, especially in hot cities with large AC use. The impact of the feedback during the July 2018 Japanese heat waves is calculated to be 0.11ºC

Scalable and template-free production of mesoporous calcium carbonate and its potential to formaldehyde adsorbent

Here we report a scalable and template-free production strategy 1 in the synthesis of a mesoporous calcium carbonate, which undergoes self-assembled nanostructure formation through a temperature-induced aggregation and polymorphic transformation of the colloids. The specific surface area and pore size distribution of resulting mesoporous calcium carbonate are clearly different depending on the aging temperature. The specific surface area and average pore size for aging temperature of 293 K are 207.3 ± 9.8 m2/g and 8.8±0.6 nm, respectively, and 65.1 ± 10.1 m2/g and 19.9±2.6 nm at 473 K. Additionally, we apply the mesoporous calcium carbonate powder to formaldehyde vapor adsorbent. We measure the adsorbed amount of gaseous formaldehyde and find that the vaterite-rich powder has larger adsorption per unit area than the calcite-rich one

Interplay of thermal and non-thermal effects in x-ray-induced ultrafast melting

X-ray laser-induced structural changes in silicon undergoing femtosecond melting have been investigated by using an x-ray pump-x-ray probe technique. The experimental results for different initial sample temperatures reveal that the onset time and the speed of the atomic disordering are independent of the initial temperature, suggesting that equilibrium atomic motion in the initial state does not play a pivotal role in the x-ray-induced ultrafast melting. By comparing the observed time-dependence of the atomic disordering and the dedicated theoretical simulations, we interpret that the energy transfer from the excited electrons to ions via electron-ion coupling (thermal effect) as well as a strong modification of the interatomic potential due to electron excitations (non-thermal effect) trigger the ultrafast atomic disordering. Our finding of the interplay of thermal and non-thermal effects in the x-ray-induced melting demonstrates that accurate modeling of intense x-ray interactions with matter is essential to ensure a correct interpretation of experiments using intense x-ray laser pulses

Feasibility pilot study of a Japanese teaching kitchen program

BackgroundThis pilot study examined the feasibility of a new lifestyle modification program involving a “Teaching Kitchen” in Japan. Our goal was to explore (1) feasibility of the program; (2) acceptability for class frequency (weekly vs. bi-weekly); and (3) changes in biometrics, dietary intakes, and lifestyle factors.MethodsA total of 24 employees with obesity in a Japanese company were recruited. Participants were randomly divided into two groups (weekly or bi-weekly group), each attending the program consisting of four two-hour classes (lectures on nutrition, exercise, mindfulness, and culinary instructions). Participants were observed for changes in dietary intakes, biometrics, and health related quality of life over the subsequent 3 months. We tested the between-group differences in changes using linear mixed-effect models.ResultsThe program completion rates were 83.3% in total (91.7% for weekly group and 75.0% for bi-weekly group). From baseline to post-intervention, significant decreases were observed in weight (p < 0.001), body mass index (p < 0.001), diastolic blood pressure (p = 0.03), body fat mass (p < 0.001), and dietary intakes in total fat (p = 0.03) and sodium (p = 0.008) among 17 participants who were available for measurements. Improvements in biometrics remained significant 1 month after the intervention (all p ≤ 0.03 in 14 participants). Participants' health related quality of life was significantly improved in bodily pain, general health, vitality, and mental component score (all p ≤ 0.047).ConclusionsThe new Japanese Teaching Kitchen program is feasible with high program completion rates in Japanese office workers with obesity. While this was a small feasibility study, significant multiple improvements in dietary intakes, biometrics, and health related quality of life suggest that this line of inquiry warrants further exploration to address obesity and obesity-related diseases in Japan

Data Gathering Using Mobile Agents for Reducing Traffic in Dense Mobile Wireless Sensor Networks

Recently, there has been increasing interest in Mobile Wireless Sensor Networks (MWSNs) that are constructed by mobile sensor nodes held by ordinary people, and it has led to a new concept called urban sensing. In such MWSNs, mobile sensor nodes densely exist, and thus, there are basically many sensor nodes that can sense a geographical point in the entire sensing area. To reduce the communication cost for gathering sensor data, it is desirable to gather the sensor data from the minimum number of mobile sensor nodes which are necessary to guarantee the sensing coverage or the quality of services. In this paper, to achieve this, we propose a data gathering method using mobile agents in dense MWSNs. The proposed method guarantees the sensing coverage of the entire area using mobile agents that autonomously perform sensing operations, transmit sensor data, and move between sensor nodes. By gathering only sensor data generated by sensor nodes where mobile agents are running, our proposed method can achieve efficient gathering of sensor data

A novel mechanism for the promotion of quercetin glycoside absorption by megalo α-1,6-glucosaccharide in the rat small intestine

The presence of α-1,6-glucosaccharide enhances absorption of water-soluble quercetin glycosides, a mixture of quercetin-3-O-β-D-glucoside (Q3G, 31.8%), mono (23.3%), di (20.3%) and more D-glucose adducts with α-1,4-linkage to D-glucose moiety of Q3G, in a ligated small intestinal loop of anesthetized rats. We enzymatically prepared α-1,6-glucosaccharides with different degrees of polymerization (DP) and separated them into a megaloisomaltosaccharide-containing fraction (M-IM, average DP = 11.0) and an oligoisomaltosaccharide-containing fraction (O-IM, average DP = 3.6). Luminal injection of either saccharide fractions promoted the absorption of total quercetin-derivatives from the small intestinal segment and this effect was greater for M-IM than O-IM addition. M-IM also increased Q3G, but not the quercetin aglycone, concentration in the water-phase of the luminal contents more strongly than O-IM. The enhancement of Q3G solubilization in the luminal contents may be responsible for the increases in the quercetin glucoside absorption promoted by α-1,6-glucosaccharides, especially M-IM. These results suggest that the ingestion of α-1,6-glucosaccharides promotes Q3G bioavailability