Theoretical Analysis of Rigid-Body Vibration in Swing Compressors

This study aims to theoretically analyze the rigid-body vibration in swing compressors. Currently, low noise and vibration (NV) are qualities recognized as a desired value for an air conditioner by end users. Because the compressor is one of the main sources of NV in an air conditioner, low NV compressors are needed. Designing a low NV compressor requires the understanding of the physical phenomena occurring in a compressor that contribute to NV. In this study, we theoretically analyzed rigid-body vibration, which has been one of the main phenomena causing NV in a swing compressor. Main factors causing rigid-body vibration in the swing compressor were classified into three types of excitation forces. By formulating them in a Fourier series representation, the primary and secondary components in the frequency domain were calculated for each excitation force without any numerical calculation method, including FFT. Furthermore, by multiplying the mass and inertial tensor of the compressor to this, we calculated both the amplitude and phase of the rigid-body vibration generated by each excitation force. We then confirmed that the calculated vibration was consistent with the experimental results. The contribution of each excitation force to the radial and tangential vibrations of typical swing compressors was theoretically analyzed. The results of the analysis clearly indicated that vibration was effectively reduced by not only simply reducing the magnitudes of the excitation forces but also by balancing the excitation forces

Demand for weekend outpatient chemotherapy among patients with cancer in Japan

Background Advanced cancer therapeutics have improved patient survival, leading to an increase in the number of patients who require long-term outpatient chemotherapy. However, the available schedule options for chemotherapy are generally limited to traditional business hours. Method In 2017, we surveyed 721 patients with cancer in Okayama, Japan, regarding their preferences for evening and weekend (Friday evening, Saturday, and Sunday) chemotherapy appointments. Results A preference for evening and weekend appointment options was indicated by 37% of the respondents. Patients who requested weekend chemotherapy were younger, female, with no spouse or partner, living alone, employed, and currently receiving treatment. Among these factors, age and employment status were significantly associated with a preference for weekend chemotherapy, according to multivariate analysis. Conclusion Our findings reveal a demand for evening and weekend outpatient chemotherapy, especially among young, employed patients

A usage-centered approach to the promotion of Institutional Repository

This presentation explains the four projects of Digital Repository Federation in Japan from the view points of a usage-centered approach to institutional repositories.This is a presentation for SPARC Digital Repository Meeting 2008 held by SPARC, SPARC Europe, SPARC Japan on the 17th and 18the of Novemver 2008 at Baltimore in the United States

Spectral Tuning Mechanism of Primate Blue-sensitive Visual Pigment Elucidated by FTIR Spectroscopy

Protein-bound water molecules are essential for the structure and function of many membrane proteins, including G-protein-coupled receptors (GPCRs). Our prior work focused on studying the primate green- (MG) and red- (MR) sensitive visual pigments using low-temperature Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) spectroscopy, which revealed protein-bound waters in both visual pigments. Although the internal waters are located in the vicinity of both the retinal Schiff base and retinal β-ionone ring, only the latter showed differences between MG and MR, which suggests their role in color tuning. Here, we report FTIR spectra of primate blue-sensitive pigment (MB) in the entire mid-IR region, which reveal the presence of internal waters that possess unique water vibrational signals that are reminiscent of a water cluster. These vibrational signals of the waters are influenced by mutations at position Glu113 and Trp265 in Rh, which suggest that these waters are situated between these two residues. Because Tyr265 is the key residue for achieving the spectral blue-shift in λmax of MB, we propose that these waters are responsible for the increase in polarity toward the retinal Schiff base, which leads to the localization of the positive charge in the Schiff base and consequently causes the blue-shift of λmax

Vibrational spectroscopy analysis of ligand efficacy in human M₂ muscarinic acetylcholine receptor (M₂R)

振動分光法を駆使した薬剤効能測定法の開発 --アセチルコリン受容体を標的とした神経疾患の治療薬開発への期待--. 京都大学プレスリリース. 2021-12-01.The intrinsic efficacy of ligand binding to G protein-coupled receptors (GPCRs) reflects the ability of the ligand to differentially activate its receptor to cause a physiological effect. Here we use attenuated total reflection-Fourier transform infrared (ATR-FTIR) spectroscopy to examine the ligand-dependent conformational changes in the human M₂ muscarinic acetylcholine receptor (M₂R)). We show that different ligands affect conformational alteration appearing at the C=O stretch of amide-I band in M2R. Notably, ATR-FTIR signals strongly correlated with G-protein activation levels in cells. Together, we propose that amide-I band serves as an infrared probe to distinguish the ligand efficacy in M₂R) and paves the path to rationally design ligands with varied efficacy towards the target GPCR

Degradation of Organic Coatings on Steel Investigated by Dynamic Electrochemical Impedance Spectroscopy

ABSTRACT Degradation of the organic coatings on steel has been investigated by the dynamic impedance measurements. The electrochemical impedance spectroscopy (EIS) has been used to evaluate the corrosion of steel coated by the organic film. Generally the electrochemical impedance of the coated steel shows complicated behavior, because the degradation of organic coating involves various steps until the steel corrodes under the coating. In the present paper, time variation of electrochemical impedance was measured to investigate the initial stage of coating degradation. The dynamic impedance was displayed on 3-dimension plots, whose axes were real and imaginary components and time. The time variation of the film resistance related to the permeation of water was monitored to discuss the corrosion mechanisms of coated steel

Selective Cyclooxygenase-2 Inhibitor Prevents Cisplatin-induced Tumorigenesis in A/J Mice

Cisplatin is used to treat lung cancer;however, it is also a known carcinogen. Cyclooxygenase-2 (COX-2) inhibitors have been shown to prevent carcinogen-induced experimental tumors. We investigated the effect of a COX-2 inhibitor, celecoxib, on cisplatin-induced lung tumors. One hundred twenty 4-week-old A/J mice were divided into 6 groups:group 1, no treatment;group 2, low-dose celecoxib (150mg/kg);group 3, high-dose celecoxib (1,500mg/kg);group 4, cisplatin alone;group 5, cisplatin plus low-dose celecoxib;and group 6, cisplatin plus high-dose celecoxib. Mice in groups 4-6 were administered cisplatin (1.62mg/kg, i.p.) once a week for 10 weeks between 7 and 16 weeks of age. All mice were sacrificed at week 30. Tumor incidence was 15.8% in group 1, 25% in group 2, 26.3% in group 3, 60% in group 4, 50% in group 5, and 50% in group 6. Tumor multiplicity was 0.2, 0.3, 0.3, 1.3, 1.0, and 0.6 in groups 1-6, respectively. Tumor multiplicity in the cisplatin-treated mice was reduced by celecoxib treatment in a dose-dependent manner (p＜0.05, group 4 vs. group 6). Celecoxib significantly reduced COX-2 expression in cisplatin-induced tumors (p＜0.01, group 4 vs. group 6)

Daily low-dose cisplatin and concurrent thoracic irradiation for poor-risk patients with unresectable non-small-cell lung cancer.

A pilot study was conducted to assess the efficacy and feasibility of daily low-dose cisplatin with concurrent thoracic irradiation for clinically unresectable non-small-cell lung cancer (NSCLC). Patients with inoperable NSCLC who had poor risk factors such as advanced age, poor performance status, poor lung function, or concomitant active malignancy were entered into the study. Low-dose cisplatin (6 mg/m2) was administered daily before concurrent thoracic irradiation (2 Gy/day; total dose of 60 Gy) was given. Twenty-five patients were registered. The majority of the patients had either stage IIIA (24.0%) or stage IIIB (60.0%) disease. Fifteen patients (60.0%) completed the planned treatment. Both chemotherapy and radiotherapy were stopped in 3 patients (12.0%) due to poor response, and 7 patients (28.0%) partly received radiotherapy alone as a result of their toxicity response. The proportion of total administered dose to planned dose was 90.9% for chemotherapy and 99.3% for radiotherapy, which were comparable to those in previous studies for LA-NSCLC patients without poor risk factors. Grade 3 leukopenia and neutropenia developed in 14 patients (56.0%) and 10 patients (40.0%), respectively, but grade 4 toxicity was not encountered. Grade 3 pneumonitis and esophagitis were observed in 4 patients (16.0%) and 2 patients (8.0%), respectively. The overall response rate was 60.0%. The median survival time was 22 months, and the 2-year survival rate was 50.3%. Daily low-dose cisplatin and concurrent thoracic irradiation were well tolerated even by poor-risk patients with NSCLC, and showed a therapeutic efficacy similar to that for good-risk patients.</p