An extrusion method of tube with spiral inner fins by utilizing generation of spiral outer fins/grooves

This paper presents a new extrusion method for fabrication of a tube with spiral inner fins. The spiral fins are formed by utilizing the generation of spiral outer fins or grooves, which drive the metal to circumferentially move with twist deformation. The effect of the outer fins/grooves is examined for realizing the circumferential metal flow. The position of the mandrel has an ability to flexibly control the spiral angle. This method would drastically enhance the productivity and reduce the manufacturing cost, as the tube would be manufactured directly from a billet through only one process

Effects of brinzolamide vs timolol as an adjunctive medication to latanoprost on circadian intraocular pressure control in primary open-angle glaucoma Japanese patients

Makoto Ishikawa1,2, Takeshi Yoshitomi11Department of Ophthalmology, Akita University Faculty of Medicine, Akita, Japan; 2Department of Ophthalmology, Ogachi Central Hospital, Akita, JapanPurpose: To study the effect of the concomitant use of brinzolamide and latanoprost on the 24-hour variation in intraocular pressure (IOP) in primary open-angle glaucoma (POAG) patients first treated with timolol and latanoprost.Methods: We studied 30 eyes from 30 POAG patients previously treated with latanoprost monotherapy. After a washout of four weeks in both eyes, all patients were treated with 0.5% timolol and latanoprost. Three months after the initiation of treatment with timolol and latanoprost, the 24-hour IOP variation was measured. Thereafter, all patients were treated with concomitant 1% brinzolamide and latanoprost. Three months after changing the therapeutic regimen, the 24-hour IOP variation was measured a second time. Latanoprost was administered once a day, and timolol and brinzolamide were twice a day. IOP was measured with a noncontact tomometer.Results: On treatment with brinzolamide and latanoprost, a significant decrease in IOP compared to timolol and latanoprost was observed at all time points except at 3 PM and 6 PM. As a group, the patients had a significantly lower diurnal mean IOP and nocturnal mean IOP during treatment with brinzolamide and latanoprost than with timolol and latanoprost.Conclusions: Treatment of POAG with a combination of brinzolamide and latanoprost demonstrated improved hypotensive effects compared with timolol and latanoprost during a 24-hour period.Keywords: circadian intraocular pressure, adverse effects, timolol, brinzolamid

Computationally determining the salience of decision points for real-time wayfinding support

This study introduces the concept of computational salience to explain the discriminatory efficacy of decision points which in turn may have applications to providing real-time assistance to users of navigational aids. This research compared algorithms for calculating the computational salience of decision points and validated the results via three methods: high-salience decision points were used to classify wayfinders; salience scores were used to weight a conditional probabilistic scoring function for real-time wayfinder performance classification; and salience scores were correlated with wayfinding-performance metrics. As an exploratory step to linking computational and cognitive salience a photograph-recognition experiment was conducted. Results reveal a distinction between algorithms useful for determining computational and cognitive saliences. For computational salience information about the structural integration of decision points is effective while information about the probability of decision-point traversal shows promise for determining cognitive salience. Limitations from only using structural information and motivations for future work that include non-structural information are elicited

ネット上のコミュニティへの関与の違いが他者とのつながり方に及ぼす影響

本研究は，ソーシャルメディア上のコミュニティへの参加形態において，自ら発信して関与する（発信型）か，閲覧に留まる関与（傍観型）かの違いが当該コミュニティの認知や他者とのつながり方にどのような影響を及ぼすか，その傾向を探ることを目的とした。さらに社会的スキルの違いによる影響にも着目して分析した。ソーシャルメディア上のコミュニティに対する認知については，発信型の方が傍観型よりも居心地感が良く，信頼感が高い傾向が示された。また，傍観型おいて，社会的スキルの高い者の方が低い者よりも当該コミュニティに対する平穏感の認知が高いことが示された。一方，他者とのつながり方については，発信型の方が傍観型よりも，親密性，共感性が高\い傾向が示された。社会的スキルの傾向は，高い者の方が低い者よりも共感性や他者理解性が高い傾向が示された