Short-run Economic Assessment of the Transportation Recovery Policy After an Earthquake

This paper develops a short-run economic damage assessment model. The model contains two sub models. One is the conventional traffic assignment model, which calculates traveling time under the damaged transportation infrastructure. The other is the economic damage assessment model, which determines the decrease in production level in the short run. This method facilitates the identification of critical infrastructure that could reduce the economic damage when the disaster occurs. As a case study, we applied this model to several recovery plans for transport facilities. The results suggest that the proposed comprehensive model should be considered as a prevention plan

Teaching Languages Online: Innovations and Challenges

Language professionals long resisted teaching online mainly because it was unthinkable to teach speaking in the online environment. Recent advances in technology, however, have made it conceivable. This chapter presents the design and implementation of online courses in Japanese and Chinese recently developed and being offered at Purdue University. We will highlight not only technologies involved, but also pedagogical innovations that helped resolve difficult issues. The efficacy of online teaching will also be touched upon. Reactions from enrolled students and the instructors that have taught the courses will also be shared

Automated classification of heat sources detected using SWIR remote sensing

Abstract The potential of shortwave infrared (SWIR) remote sensing to detect hotspots has been investigated using satellite data for decades. The hotspots detected by satellite SWIR sensors include very high-temperature heat sources such as wildfires, volcanoes, industrial activity, or open burning. This study proposes an automated classification method of heat source detected utilizing Landsat 8 and Sentinel-2 data. We created training data of heat sources via visual inspection of hotspots detected by Landsat 8. A scheme to classify heat sources for daytime data was developed by combining classification methods based on a Convolutional Neural Network (CNN) algorithm utilizing spatial features and a decision tree algorithm based on thematic land-cover information and our time series detection record. Validation work using 10,959 classification results corresponding to hotspots acquired from May 2017 to July 2019 indicated that the two classification results were in 79.7% agreement. For hotspots where the two classification schemes agreed, the classification was 97.9% accurate. Even when the results of the two classification schemes conflicted, either was correct in 73% of the samples. To improve the accuracy, the heat source category was re-allocated to the most probable category corresponding to the combination of the results from the two methods. Integrating the two approaches achieved an overall accuracy of 92.8%. In contrast, the overall accuracy for heat source classification during nighttime reached 79.3% because only the decision tree-based classification was applicable to limited available data. Comparison with the Visible Infrared Imaging Radiometer Suite (VIIRS) fire product revealed that, despite the limited data acquisition frequency of Landsat 8, regional tendencies in hotspot occurrence were qualitatively appropriate for an annual period on a global scale

Foxo3a is essential for maintenance of the hematopoietic stem cell pool

Division of Molecular Genetic

Talonavicular joint abnormalities and walking ability of patients with rheumatoid arthritis.

Rheumatoid arthritis (RA) is often associated with deformities of the feet, and foot pain often arises in the talonavicular joint of patients with RA. The object of this study was to assess the relationship between magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) findings of the talonavicular joint and walking ability. The subjects were 35 RA patients (10 feet in 5 males and 56 feet in 30 females) aged 34-87 years (mean: 70 years +/- 12.1), with a disease duration from 1-54 years (mean: 14 years +/- 12.1). MRI findings were classified as follows: Grade 1, almost normal; Grade 2, early articular destruction; Grade 3, moderate articular destruction; Grade 4, severe articular destruction; and Grade 5, bony ankylosis dislocation. Walking ability was classified into one of 9 categories ranging from normal gait to bedridden status according to the system of Fujibayashi. As the grade of MRI images became higher the walking ability decreased, and these parameters showed a correlation by Spearman's rank correlation coefficient analysis (P = 0.003). Thus, in the present cohort group of patients with RA, the deterioration of walking ability increased with the severity of destruction of the talonavicular joint.</p

A STUDY ABOUT MASTITIS INFECTION CHARACTERISTICS IN DAIRY COW OF BAVI, HANOI, VIETNAM

Objective: The present research was performed to investigate the prevalence of mastitis infection in Bavi, Hanoi, Vietnam and also to study the relationship between places, seasons and cow breeds with the disease occurrence.Methods: Mastitis infection was diagnosed by clinical symptoms observation and California Mastitis Test (CMT). The results of these 2 methods were then analyzed to understand the clinical and subclinical infection. The infected cases were also separated to different places and breeds to analyze the relationship with disease prevalence. In the seasonal investigation, the mastitis infection was diagnosed continuously over one year with the aid of farm managers and local veterinarians. Results: Positive infection detected by CMT kits were significantly higher than that of the clinical symptoms diagnose, suggested the involvement of subclinical infection cases, the infection in which no clinical symptoms could be observed. There was no significance difference between places and seasons, however the occurrence in summer was higher than other seasons. The Holstein Friesian (HF) purebred had significantly higher infection rates compare to crossbreds. In addition, there is a trend of increased percentage of the prevalence of mastitis in higher generations.Conclusion: The prevalence of mastitis in Bavi is lower than other parts of Hanoi and other places in Vietnam. Crossbreds F1HF and F2HF had significantly low sensitivity to mastitis and were recommended for dairy cow husbandry. Summer is the most risky time for mastitis and therefore requires the application of appropriate preventive methods.Key words: clinical mastitis, subclinical mastitis, dairy cows, breed, season, prevalence, Bav