Hedonic Price Function for Residential Area Focusing on the Reasons for Residential Preferences in Japanese Metropolitan Areas

This study aims to offer a new estimate of the hedonic price function of residential areas in Japanese metropolitan areas, focusing on the reasons for residential preferences. More specifically, it introduces two new explanatory variables—‘regional vulnerability’ and ‘accessibility to destination stations’—and determines their usefulness. Based on the evaluation done in this study, the hedonic price function mentioned above showed 60% interpretability (as compared to 52% interpretability by hedonic price function using only conventional explanatory variables.) In addition, the significance level of both the explanatory variables was low, and the land price changed by 9% as the regional vulnerability changed by 1 grade. Furthermore, residents placed great emphasis on both variables. This made it evident that the introduction of the two explanatory variables that reflect the reasons for residential preferences specific to Japanese metropolitan areas was reasonable

Total Acid Number Reduction of Naphthenic Acids Using Supercritical Fluid and Ionic Liquids

Naphthenic acids (NAs) are complex mixture of predominately alkyl-substituted cycloaliphatic carboxylic acids and small amount of acyclic acids present in crude oil, heavy oil and in oil sands bitumen. They are toxic components in refinery wastewater and in oil sand extraction water and lead to corrosion problems within the oil refineries. Therefore, the amount of NAs needs to suppress in petroleum oils and wastewater came from petroleum industry. This paper reviews the supercritical fluids (SCFs)- and ionic liquids (ILs)-based acidity reduction process from heavy oils by reviewing open literature. The potential benefits of SCFs- and ILs-based acidity reduction process of heavy oils are also explored. The reviewed articles reveal that total acid number (TAN) removal increase with increasing reaction time and temperature by the action of SCF. Supercritical methanol (SC-MeOH) has higher potentiality for removing acidity of NAs than supercritical water (SCW) without deposition of coke. TAN removal from NAs using SCF follows first order kinetics on TAN removal. ILs can reduce acidity of heavy oil either forming zwitterionic species or building cage structure around NAs through specific chemical bonds. Thus, non-catalytic SCF- and ILs-based TAN reduction process can open a new window to reduce acidity of heavy oils

Is epigenome editing non-inheritable? Implications for ethics and the regulation of human applications

科学の最新動向を基に、エピゲノム編集の倫理・規制を議論. 京都大学プレスリリース. 2023-11-03.Potential inheritable effects and ethical considerations of epigenome editing. 京都大学プレスリリース. 2023-11-03.Epigenome editing offers ethical advantages with non-inheritable gene expression control. However, concerns arise regarding potential transgenerational effects in humans. Ethical and regulatory evaluation is crucial, considering recent advancements and enhanced understanding of transgenerational epigenetics in both mammals and humans

Effect of Co-Solvents on Transesterification of Refined Palm Oil in Supercritical Methanol

This study examined the non-catalytic transesterification of refined palm oil, using supercritical methanol as a solvent with and without the presence of co-solvent, i.e. toluene, benzene, or hexane. Without the presence of a co-solvent, methyl esters can be produced via the non-catalytic transesterification of palm oil at 300oC, using a methanol to oil molar ratio of 45:1, with 89.4% conversion achieved after 50 min. The reaction performance could be improved by adding either benzene or toluene (with 10% v/v solvent to oil) as co-solvent to 92.1 and 95.1%, respectively, while reducing the required amount of excess methanol from 45:1 to 25:1. Under most conditions, the conversion of palm oil decreased with the addition of hexane due to its antisolvent properties

Hot Compressed Water Extraction of Lignin by Using a Flow-Through Reactor

Japanese rice straw, an agricultural by-product, was utilized for the extraction of lignin by hot compressed water at temperatures of 443 - 503 K and a pressure of 4.0 MPa using a flow-through system, a simple and environmentally friendly extraction method requiring no chemicals other than water. Under these conditions, thermal softening of the Japanese rice straw occurred, allowing the removal of lignin via depolymerization reactions. Lignin as an extraction product was analyzed using utraviolet-visible (UV-vis) spectrophotometry. Lignin recovery approached 85% when the extraction was performed at 443 and 473 K with a flow rate of 4.67 ml min-1. At a constant residence time, recovery amounts increased with increasing flow rate at each temperature. The results suggested that this process may result in an advanced plant biomass components extraction technology

Comparability of Weighed Dietary Records and a Self-Administered Diet History Questionnaire for Estimating Monetary Cost of Dietary Energy

An increasing number of studies have estimated monetary diet cost using various dietary assessment methods, based on databases on retail food prices, for investigating its association with dietary intake and health outcomes. However, information regarding the comparability of monetary diet cost across dietary assessment methods is absolutely lacking. This study compared monetary cost of dietary energy estimated from weighed dietary records (DRs) with that estimated from a self-administered diet history questionnaire (DHQ). The subjects were 92 Japanese women aged 31–69 years and 92 Japanese men aged 32–76 years. The DHQ (assessing diet during the preceding month) and 4-day DRs (one weekend day and three weekdays) were completed in each season over a 1-year period (DHQs1-4 and DRs1-4, respectively). An additional DHQ was completed at one year after completing DHQ1 (DHQ5). Monetary cost of dietary energy (Japanese yen/4184 kJ) was calculated using food intake information derived from each dietary assessment method, based on retail food prices. Pearson correlation between the mean of DRs1-4 and mean of DHQs1-4 was 0.64 for women and 0.69 for men. Pearson correlation between the mean of DRs1-4 and DHQ1 was 0.60 for women and 0.52 for men, while intraclass correlation between DHQ1 and DHQ5 was 0.64 for women and 0.51 for men. These data indicate reasonable comparability of monetary cost of dietary energy across DR and a DHQ as well as usefulness of a single administration of the DHQ for estimating monetary cost of dietary energy

Copy number loss of (src homology 2 domain containing)-transforming protein 2 (SHC2) gene: discordant loss in monozygotic twins and frequent loss in patients with multiple system atrophy

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Multiple system atrophy (MSA) is a sporadic disease. Its pathogenesis may involve multiple genetic and nongenetic factors, but its etiology remains largely unknown. We hypothesized that the genome of a patient with MSA would demonstrate copy number variations (CNVs) in the genes or genomic regions of interest. To identify genomic alterations increasing the risk for MSA, we examined a pair of monozygotic (MZ) twins discordant for the MSA phenotype and 32 patients with MSA.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>By whole-genome CNV analysis using a combination of CNV beadchip and comparative genomic hybridization (CGH)-based CNV microarrays followed by region-targeting, high-density, custom-made oligonucleotide tiling microarray analysis, we identified disease-specific copy number loss of the (Src homology 2 domain containing)-transforming protein 2 (<it>SHC2</it>) gene in the distal 350-kb subtelomeric region of 19p13.3 in the affected MZ twin and 10 of the 31 patients with MSA but not in 2 independent control populations (<it>p </it>= 1.04 × 10^-8, odds ratio = 89.8, Pearson's chi-square test).</p> <p>Conclusions</p> <p>Copy number loss of <it>SHC2 </it>strongly indicates a causal link to MSA. CNV analysis of phenotypically discordant MZ twins is a powerful tool for identifying disease-predisposing loci. Our results would enable the identification of novel diagnostic measure, therapeutic targets and better understanding of the etiology of MSA.</p

Shock-wave propagation in supercritical CO2 induced by nanosecond-pulsed arc plasma

Shock waves generated by arc plasma in supercritical (SC) CO2 have the potential to create novel reaction fields. However, there have been few studies of shock-wave characteristics in SC-CO2. This study provides the results of visualization of shock-wave propagation in SC-CO2 generated by nanosecond-pulsed arc plasma. A propagating cylindrical shock wave originating from a discharge channel was observed using time-resolved shadowgraph imaging. The shock wave separated from the cylindrical dark-region induced by pulsed arc plasma within 64 nanoseconds. The Mach numbers of the shock waves were investigated against the medium density of the CO2 ranging from a high-pressure gas phase to the SC phase. The Mach number reached a local maximum at the critical CO2 density level. The anomaly in the Mach number can be explained by the local maximum of the specific heat capacity ratio of the CO2 at close to the critical condition of SC-CO2

Subcritical Water Extraction and Direct Formation of Microparticulate Polysaccharide Powders from Ganoderma Lucidum

Ganoderma lucidum (hereafter G. lucidum) has been known as a food and raw material used in the development of medications because of its high content of polysaccharides, or ?-glucans, which support the immune function. In this work, subcritical water was applied to utilize G. lucidum for the extraction of polysaccharides at temperatures of 373–463K and a pressure level of 4.0 MPa using a semi-batch system. Furthermore, these extracts were atomized and contacted with hot air to produce microsphere particles. During extraction, thermal softening of G. lucidum occurred, allowing the removal of the polysaccharides and protecting other constituents in G. lucidum via hydrolysis. Scanning electron microscope (SEM) images showed that the microsphere particles formed were spherical and dimpled or shriveled particles with diameters varying from 1 to 6 ?m. Characteristics of the molecular mass revealed that main massed peaks of water soluble products were distributed at around 688–2636 m/z with a peak-to-peak mass difference of 162 m/z, consistent with the repeating unit of the glucans