An Empirical Study of Electric Power Demand Control by Real-time Feedback of Consumption Levels: Case of Nushima Island Households

AbstractElectric power demand management will play an important role in the creation of smart-energy communities. We are conducting a field experiment on the real-time feedback of electric power consumption via smart meters and tablet PCs with the participation of 51 households on Nushima Island, one of Japan's remote islands. Our estimate of the effect of feedback in reducing power demand by panel data analysis has revealed that such feedback achieves a saving of 7.6 percent in electric power demand

Integrated education of gross anatomy and CT radiology for current advances in medicine

It is essential to learn human anatomy in 3D for advanced medicine. We designed such an education system by integrating anatomy dissection with diagnostic CT radiology. Cadavers were scanned by CT, and students consulted the postmortem CT images while dissecting the cadaver to gain a better understanding of 3D human anatomy and diagnostic radiology. Students used handheld DICOM viewers at the bench-side (OsiriX on iPod touch). Students had lectures and workshops on diagnostic radiology, and study assignments where they discussed findings in anatomy labs in comparison with CT radiology. This teaching method for gross anatomy was used from 2009, and yielded positive students’ perspectives, and significant improvements in radiology skills at clinical courses.This is the pre-peer reviewed version of the following article: Tohru Murakami, Yuki Tajika, Hitoshi Ueno, Sachiko Awata, Satoshi Hirasawa, Maki Sugimoto, Yoshihiko Kominato, Yoshito Tsushima, Keigo Endo, and Hiroshi Yorifuji. An integrated teaching method of gross anatomy and computed tomography radiology. Anat Sci Educ, 2014, which has been published in final form at http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/ doi/10.1002/ase.1430/abstract

Variantes genéticas en el locus 9p21 contribuyen al desarrollo de arteriosclerosis a través de la modulación de ANRIL y CDKN2A/B

Registro creado en correspondencia al grado de doctora de Ada Congrains Castillo.Los estudios de asociación de todo el genoma (GWAS) han identificado variantes genéticas que contribuyen al riesgo de enfermedad cardiovascular (ECV) en el locus del cromosoma 9p21. La región asociada a CVD es adyacente a los dos inhibidores de quinasas dependientes de ciclina (CDKN) 2A y 2B y los últimos exones del ARN no codificante, ANRIL. Todavía no está claro cuál de estas transcripciones o cómo están involucradas en la patogénesis de la aterosclerosis.Genome-wide association studies (GWAS) have identified genetic variants contributing to the risk of cardiovascular disease (CVD) at the chromosome 9p21 locus. The CVD-associated region is adjacent to the two cyclin dependent kinase inhibitors (CDKN)2A and 2B and the last exons of the non-coding RNA, ANRIL. It is still not clear which of or how these transcripts are involved in the pathogenesis of atherosclerosis.Japón. Programa de Promoción de Estudios Fundamentales en el Instituto Nacional de Innovación Biomédica de Japón (HR: 22-2-5), el Ministerio de Educación, Cultura, Deportes, Ciencia y Tecnología de Japón (KK: 22510211) y la Fundación NOVARTIS para la Investigación Gerontológica (KK).Tesi

コクサイ リスウカ チョウサ TIMSS ニ ヨル バングラデシュ ノ チュウガク ニネンセイ ノ ガクリョク チョウサ オモ ニ ニホン ノ ケッカ トノ ヒカク ト ケントウ

バングラデシュ人民共和国のグレード8の生徒(中学2年生)の理科に対する理解度や意識を調査する目的で,TIMSS2003(2003年国際理数科調査)で行われた質問項目を用いて,バングラデシュの生徒に対して調査を行った。また既に公表されているTIMSS2003での日本の結果との比較も行った。TIMSS2003調査項目のうち,25の意識を問う項目12の学力を問う項目を選んだ。調査対象は,バングラデシュ国内4つの中等学校,合計203名の生徒である。そのうち103名は女子生徒であった。調査結果の比較から,バングラデシュの生徒の方が日本の生徒よりも,学習意欲が高いことがわかった。しかし,理科に対する理解度については,バングラデシュよりも日本の方が優れていた。また,女子生徒の方が男子生徒よりも若干理解度が高かった。この結果は,これまで考えられていたバングラデシュの背景と矛盾した結果であったが,理科に対する理解度に男女差がないことが明らかになった。これらに加えて,都市(首都ダッカ)の中等学校に通う生徒と地方の中等学校に通う生徒との間の比較も同様に行った。結果からいえることは,こと理科教育に関してバングラデシュでは,都市と地方の学校間の教育の質の差を無くすには,未だかなりの長い道のりが必要であるということである。This study has been done to compare the achievement level of grade 8 students in science between Bangladesh and Japan. A part of TIMSS 2003 has been done through the present study. 25 attitude based questions and 12 knowledge based questions have been used in this study. Data were collected from 203 students of which 103 are girl students from 4 secondary high schools. On the other hand, data of Japanese grade eight students were taken from the TIMSS 1999 report. In the result, attitude of Bangladeshi grade 8 students was more positive than Japanese grade 8 students. But the Japanese grade 8 students\u27 performance is better in the achievement test. The performance of the Bangladeshi grade 8 girl students\u27 is better than boy students, which is contradictory to the existing concept but it was proved that girl students have same ability as boy students to study science. Beside the comparison between Japan and Bangladesh, there is another comparison between the students of Dhaka and outside Dhaka has been done in this study. From the result we can say that in case of science education, still long way to go to eradicate difference of quality between urban and rural schools in Bangladesh.国立情報学研究所『研究紀要公開支援事業』により電子化

Diagnostic criteria for acute-onset type 1 diabetes mellitus (2012): Report of the Committee of Japan Diabetes Society on the Research of Fulminant and Acute-onset Type 1 Diabetes Mellitus

Type 1 diabetes is a disease characterized by destruction of pancreatic β-cells, which leads to absolute deficiency of insulin secretion. Depending on the manner of onset and progression, it is classified as fulminant, acute-onset or slowly progressive type 1 diabetes. Here, we propose the diagnostic criteria for acute-onset type 1 diabetes mellitus. Among the patients who develop ketosis or diabetic ketoacidosis within 3 months after the onset of hyperglycemic symptoms and require insulin treatment continuously after the diagnosis of diabetes, those with anti-islet autoantibodies are diagnosed with \u27acute-onset type 1 diabetes mellitus (autoimmune)\u27. In contrast, those whose endogenous insulin secretion is exhausted (fasting serum C-peptide immunoreactivity <0.6 ng/mL) without verifiable anti-islet autoantibodies are diagnosed simply with \u27acute-onset type 1 diabetes mellitus\u27. Patients should be reevaluated after certain periods in case their statuses of anti-islet autoantibodies and/or endogenous insulin secretory capacity are unknown

Genetic association between the interleukin-2 receptor-alpha gene and mode of onset of type 1 diabetes in the Japanese population.

CONTEXT/OBJECTIVE: The IL-2 receptor-alpha (IL2RA), also known as CD25, is expressed on the regulatory T cells, which play an important role in the control of immune responses and the maintenance of immune homeostasis. Our objective was to determine whether variants in the IL2RA gene are associated with type 1 diabetes in the Japanese population. DESIGN/PATIENTS: We genotyped the four single-nucleotide polymorphisms (rs706778, rs3118470, ss52580101, and rs11594656) of the IL2RA in 885 patients with type 1 diabetes and 606 control subjects of Japanese origin. The allele and genotype frequencies were examined in the patient groups stratified by their mode of onset in a case-control study. RESULTS: We found evidence of association with acute-onset, but not slow-onset and fulminant, type 1 diabetes for two of the four single-nucleotide polymorphisms genotyped (rs706778 and rs3118470). The rs706778 A allele and the rs3118470 G allele were associated with an increased disease risk [odds ratio (OR) for rs706778 AA genotype 1.54, P = 4.2 x 10(-4) and OR for rs3118470 GG genotype 1.50, P = 0.0019, respectively]. Furthermore, the A-G haplotype was associated with increased type 1 diabetes risk in the acute-onset form (OR 1.30, P = 0.002). CONCLUSIONS: The present data confirm the type 1 diabetes association with IL2RA and provide evidence that the different contributions of the IL2RA in the susceptibility to acute-onset and other forms of type 1 diabetes in the Japanese population

Evaluation of racial and ethnic disparities in exposure to toxic metals in the United States

Asian populations have higher background biomarker levels of certain toxic metals, as compared to other race and ethnic groups in the U.S. However, there is little information on likely exposure pathways in Asians or whether this pattern varies by Asian subpopulations. Using data from the 2011–2012 National Health Nutrition and Examination Survey (NHANES), we achieved two main objectives. First, we compared the biomarker levels of four metals (arsenic, cadmium, lead, and mercury) in the Asian population with those of other U.S. race and ethnic groups. Second, we examined whether differences in biomarker levels between race/ethnic groups are attributable to demographic, physical, dietary, behavioral, socioeconomic, and/or geographic factors. Food consumption (including drinking water) is one of the key exposure pathways for arsenic, cadmium, lead and mercury in the U.S. These metals are bioaccumulative and present ubiquitously in animal and plant tissues that we consume. Hence, one possible cause of increased biomarker levels is the food consumption practices among Asians. Therefore, dietary chemical intake of the aforementioned four metals was also investigated. We presented summary statistics of biomarker levels and dietary metal intake stratified by five NHANES race/ethnic group categories: non-Hispanic white, non-Hispanic black, Mexican American, other Hispanic, and non-Hispanic Asian, and three Asian subgroups: Chinese, Asian Indian, and “Other Asian.” For each race or ethnicity, the weighted geometric mean and 50th and 95th percentiles of biomarker levels and dietary metal intake data were presented by potential determinant or covariate. Further, the association between biomarker levels and dietary metal intake was determined. We confirmed significantly higher biomarker levels of the four metals among Asians as compared to other race/ethnic groups, regardless of demographic, physical, dietary, behavioral, socioeconomic, and/or geographic characteristics. Further, biomarker levels across different Asian subgroups were also significantly different. Many characteristics—namely, sex, age, birthplace, smoking, and fish consumption—were significantly associated with the biomarker levels of these metals. Statistically significant associations between dietary intake and biomarker levels were found for arsenic (both total and inorganic) and mercury; however, such associations were not observed for cadmium or lead. We also observed different food consumption patterns (e.g., levels of fish and rice consumed) and estimated dietary intake across the different race/ethnic groups and Asian subgroups. Fish (for total arsenic and mercury) and rice (for inorganic arsenic) were found to be important dietary sources of arsenic and mercury exposure among Asians. In contrast to our findings for biomarkers, with the exception of arsenic (total and inorganic), estimated dietary intake was generally not significantly different across race/ethnic groups and subgroups, especially for cadmium and lead