A Report on Hydrographic Activities Following the Great East Japan Earthquake

The Great East Japan Earthquake (Mw9.0) on 11 March 2011 accompanied with a huge tsunami of more than 10 meters in height devastated many cities and ports along the Pacific coast of northeastern Japan, and claimed nearly 20,000 lives with many of them still missing. This report reviews actions taken by the Japan Hydrographic and Oceanographic Department (JHOD) after this unprecedented disaster. Immediately after the earthquake, the JHOD carried out hydrographic surveys for the urgent need to help clear the passage in ports due to sunken debris swept away by the tsunami. These surveys have enabled the vessels with relief supplies on board for the affected areas to enter the ports. The JHOD revisited the affected ports for the next stage of hydrographic surveys. These surveys will contribute to revised nautical charts based on new data collected after the earthquake, and includes the ongoing restoration and reconstruction work of quays and port facilities. This stage includes the re-determination of the datum level of the affected ports, which is necessary because of large subsidence being reported in the areas. All of these efforts by the JHOD clearly demonstrate the significance of the hydrographic activities in case of the post-quake emergency situation, not only for the safety of navigation but also for economic recovery

Low-Intensity Resistance Training with Moderate Blood Flow Restriction Appears Safe and Increases Skeletal Muscle Strength and Size in Cardiovascular Surgery Patients:A Pilot Study

We examined the safety and the effects of low-intensity resistance training (RT) with moderate blood flow restriction (KAATSU RT) on muscle strength and size in patients early after cardiac surgery. Cardiac patients (age 69.6 +/- 12.6 years, n = 21, M = 18) were randomly assigned to the control (n = 10) and the KAATSU RT group (n = 11). All patients had received a standard aerobic cardiac rehabilitation program. The KAATSU RT group additionally executed low-intensity leg extension and leg press exercises with moderate blood flow restriction twice a week for 3 months. RT-intensity and volume were increased gradually. We evaluated the anterior mid-thigh thickness (MTH), skeletal muscle mass index (SMI), handgrip strength, knee extensor strength, and walking speed at baseline, 5-7 days after cardiac surgery, and after 3 months. A physician monitored the electrocardiogram, rate of perceived exertion, and the color of the lower limbs during KAATSU RT. Creatine phosphokinase (CPK) and D-dimer were measured at baseline and after 3 months. There were no side effects during KAATSU RT. CPK and D-dimer were normal after 3 months. MTH, SMI, walking speed, and knee extensor strength increased after 3 months with KAATSU RT compared with baseline. Relatively low vs. high physical functioning patients tended to increase physical function more after 3 months with KAATSU RT. Low-intensity KAATSU RT as an adjuvant to standard cardiac rehabilitation can safely increase skeletal muscle strength and size in cardiovascular surgery patients.</p

Evaluation of the Applicability of Infrared and Thermistor-Thermometry in Thermophysiology Research

The accuracy and reliability of temperature measuring devices in thermal physiology research and clinical practice has been subject of various investigations. Research data have been conflicting in some cases. Further investigations are therefore needed to elucidate the reliability and sensitivity of these devices under different temperature settings. The aim of this study was to evaluate the reliability and sensitivity of the tympanic thermistor (TT), infrared tympanic thermometer (ITT) and oral thermistor (OT) in the detection of body temperature changes in adults exposed to heat load. A single set of three simultaneous temperatures i.e. oral, left and right tympanic membrane were measured. At rest, core temperature (Tc) measured by TT was 0.45℃ and+0.10～-0.12℃ (changed range) higher than that measured with OT and ITT respectively. At the end of 30min 43℃ water bath leg immersion, Tc measured by TT was 0.48℃ and 0.04℃ higher than that measured with OT and ITT. This showed that when subjects were exposed to heat load, there was no difference in Tc measured by TT and ITT, although both were significantly higher than that measured with OT. From these results, it might be thought that the sensitivity for Tc detection increased in the order tympanic thermistor>infrared thermometer>oral thermistor. Further-more, in addition to the merits of infrared thermometer, the hazards and difficulties of tympanic temperature measurement were discussed from the view of development of the various kinds of thermometers

Overweight is associated with allergy in school children of Taiwan and Vietnam but not Japan

We collected information concerning diagnosed allergy from 2027 school children in Japan, Taiwan and Vietnam. Children were classified according to the age and sex-specific body mass index (BMI) per-age as indicator of weight status. Logistic regression was performed to examine the relationship between percentiles of BMI-per-age and allergy. Compared with children at the lowest percentile group Taiwanese children at>85th percentile group showed a tendency toward higher risk of allergy (OR=1.79, 95% CI 0.98 to 3.27 p=0.060).When children with rhino-conjunctivitis were excluded from the analysis the association reached statistical significance (OR=2.89,95% CI 1.08 to 7.75 p= 0.035).Vietnamese children at>85th percentile group showed a significantly higher risk of allergy (OR= 2.34,95% CI 1.06 to 5.17 p=0.035). This association was not observed when children with atopic dermatitis or food allergy were excluded from the analysis, although a tendency toward increased risk of allergy at BMI-per-age>85th percentile remained. Our study sample of Japanese school children showed no association between being overweight and allergy

Association of Typical versus Atypical Antipsychotics with Symptoms and Quality of Life in Schizophrenia

BACKGROUND: Several reports on patients with chronic schizophrenia suggest that atypical versus typical antipsychotics are expected to lead to better quality of life (QOL) and cognitive function. Our aim was to examine the association of chronic treatment with typical or atypical antipsychotics with cognitive function, psychiatric symptoms, QOL, and drug-induced extrapyramidal symptoms in long-hospitalized patients with schizophrenia. METHODOLOGY AND PRINCIPAL FINDINGS: The Hasegawa Dementia Scale-Revised (HDS-R), Brief Psychiatric Rating Scale (BPRS), the Schizophrenia Quality of Life Scale, translated into Japanese (JSQLS), and the Drug-Induced Extrapyramidal Symptoms Scale (DIEPSS) were used to evaluate cognitive function, psychiatric symptoms, QOL, and drug-induced extrapyramidal symptoms. We examined the correlation between the dose of antipsychotics and each measure derived from these psychometric tests. The student t-test was used to compare scores obtained from psychometric tests between patients receiving typical and atypical antipsychotics. Results showed significant correlations between chlorpromazine (CPZ)-equivalent doses of typical antipsychotics and atypical antipsychotics, and the total BPRS score and BPRS subscale scores for positive symptoms. CPZ-equivalent doses of typical antipsychotics were correlated with the JSQLS subscale score for dysfunction of psycho-social activity and DIEPSS score. Furthermore, the total BPRS scores, BPRS subscale score for positive symptoms, the JSQLS subscale score for dysfunction of psycho-social activity, and the DIEPSS score were significantly higher in patients receiving typical antipsychotics than atypical antipsychotics. CONCLUSION AND SIGNIFICANCE: These findings suggest that long-term administration of typical antipsychotics has an unfavorable association with feelings of difficulties mixing in social situations in patients with chronic schizophrenia

Rate Adaptation Mechanism with Available Data Rate Trimming and Data Rate Information Provision for V2I Communications

We study a rate adaptation mechanism for improving communication performance between a connected vehicle and a roadside unit (RSU) using Wi-Fi during movement in a vehicle-to-infrastructure (V2I) environment. Wi-Fi communication provides various attractive services to connected vehicles during movement. However, as a connected vehicle is generally moving at high speed, the communication performance with an RSU that works as an access point is degraded because wireless link quality fluctuates abruptly and continuously. We then propose a rate adaptation mechanism employing the following two main features to mitigate such deterioration in communication performance: available data rate trimming and data rate information provision. To alleviate degradation of communication, the former avoids usage of excessively low data rates and the latter then provides data rate information suitable for channel quality from a dataset of adequate data rates based on the vehicle's location and speed. However, the data rate information provided from a dataset may not always be appropriate because of various indefinite factors such as multipath fading and shadowing. Thus, the proposed method also employs a measurement-based function to compensate for such a drawback of the dataset. Simulation experiments evaluate communication performance for 10, 60, and 100 km/h in single-vehicle and multiple-vehicles cases. Simulation results showed that the proposed method overall provides superior communication performance in situations involving more than one vehicle, in comparison with existing counter- and sample-based methods

A Virtual WLAN Device Model for High-Fidelity Wireless Network Emulation

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