Kinematic analysis of punt kick in football goalkeepers based on the level of kick effort

In the present study, we aimed to investigate the differences in punt kicks by football goalkeepers based on the level of effort required. Twelve experienced goalkeepers participated in the study. The participants were instructed to kick the ball as far as possible in the maximum distance trial (100% trial) and to have a more controlled approach for the 80% and 60% trials. Each punt kick was divided into three events: release of the ball from the left hand (BR), pivot foot ground-contact (LFC), and ball impact (IMP). Right lower limb joint velocity, right hip and knee joint angles, flight distance, ball velocity, and kick angle were calculated. The 80% and 100% trials yielded almost the same velocity for each part of the right leg; however, in the 60% trial, the level of kicking effort was managed by adjusting the velocity of the right ankle joint, starting from BR, in addition to adjustment of the velocity of the right knee joint at LFC. Compared to punt kicks with a lower level of effort, the punt kicks with a higher level of effort involved an increase in the hip joint extension angle for the right leg during the backswing and the lowering of the knee joint angle of the right leg at the start of the forward swing, thus producing forward swing velocity for the right foot

Conventional Servo System to Direct Drive Actuators Why Does It Matter?

LecturesThis paper discusses the development of Actuators over a period of time. The purpose of an Actuator (servo system) is to operate steam turbine control valves. With the increasing demand for better control of steam valves and depleting support for conventional servo system, there has been a gradual shift to Direct drive Actuator. The conventional servo system consists of an E/H Actuator along with pilot valve, power cylinder and a complex system of linkages. The introduction of direct-drive actuators enables the Turbine OEM’s to completely eliminate the application of pilot valve and power cylinder and redesign the system for less space, better reliability and low maintenance. The major issue with conventional system is the large number of bearings, linkages and moving parts which had resulted in multiple failures over time and the complexity of the system which makes it very difficult to analyze the root cause of these failures. This paper presents the above failures and how the direct-drive actuators solves the issue by allowing OEM’s to design the system with minimum components and better analyze the system leading to high reliability and better optimization of the limited space around Turbine. This paper also discusses other factors which make the system highly reliable and redundant. While the users experience many benefits, it is also important to understand the issues associated with direct Actuators. The paper also lists these disadvantages along wit

Introduction of SCC life time estimation for fir tree design on steam turbine

Case StudySome cracks due to stress corrosion cracking have detected in blade grooves of steam turbine. This presentation describes the residual life and its evaluate method for SCC on Fir tree blade groove

Malignant schwannoma of the upper mediastinum originating from the vagus nerve

BACKGROUND: Malignant schwannoma of the upper mediastinum originating from the vagus nerve is extremely rare. CASE PRESENTATION: A 46-year-old female was admitted for a left cervical mass which was associated with both hoarseness and Horner's syndrome. Chest computed tomography showed a mass extending from the left upper mediastinum to the left supraclavicular area. A fine needle aspiration cytological examination suggested primary lung cancer stage IIIB large cell carcinoma. After administering induction chemo-radiotherapy, a complete surgical resection was performed. The tumor was found to involve both the left vagus nerve and the left sympathetic nerve. Histological examination of the resected specimen revealed the tumor to be malignant schwannoma. CONCLUSION: Despite incorrect preoperative diagnosis, the multimodality treatment administered in this case, including induction chemo-radiotherapy and surgery, proved to be effective

Activated partial thromboplastin time‑based clot waveform analysis enables measurement of very low levels of factor IX activity in patients with severe hemophilia B

The precise measurement of very low levels of factor IX activity (FIX:C < 1 IU/dL) is essential for understanding clinical severity and risk of inhibitor development in patients with severe hemophilia B (Pw-SHB). However, such measurement sensitivity has not yet been achieved. We aimed to establish a measurement method using clot waveform analysis (CWA). Residual FIX:C by adding anti-FIX monoclonal antibody, FIX:C by adding recombinant (r)FIX to the commercial Pw-SHB plasmas, and FIX:C in our Pw-SHB were determined by CS-2000i™/CS-2400™, followed by analysis of CWA parameters. The presence of anti-FIX antibody in the commercial Pw-SHB plasmas significantly decreased coagulation potential compared to its absence. The addition of rFIX to these innate plasma samples produced significant changes in three parameters upon adding FIX:C at 0.1–1 IU/dL, supporting the presence of trace FIX:C in Pw-SHB. Therefore, appropriate FIX-depleted plasma containing minimum residual FIX:C was chosen from reference curves of FIX:C (0.01–1 IU/dL). Among patients with untreated Pw-SHB, two had FIX:C 0.6–0.7 IU/dL and two had lower than detectable levels using FIX-depleted plasma. One of the latter had detectable trough levels post-rFIX administration. In conclusion, CWA enabled measurement of very low levels of FIX:C using appropriate FIX-deficient plasma.博士（医学）・乙第1528号・令和4年12月22

Investigation of unexpected Trips in Steam Turbine

Case StudiesA 56 MW steam turbine tripped several times over a short period of time although the trip signal was not sent. A thorough examination of the turbine at site ruled out any problems with the trip system. The pressure data for control oil line indicated a sudden drop in oil pressure forcing the trip button in trip relay system to move to the trip position. Dynamic simulation of the trip system was carried out to find the effect of various factors including the abnormal behavior of different components. This presentation shows the detailed analysis results, possible causes of failure of the trip system and solution employed to solve these problems

Preliminary reports of the Quaternary sediment core drilled in Nakatokushima-cho Tokushima City, West Japan

A 80 m-long borehole core (TK-B-1) drilled in the Tokushima Plain was examined. Based on the sedimentary facies, volcanic ash layers, pollen fossils and radiocarbon dates, this core was divided into the following 13 units. Unit 1 is a metamorphic rock that forms the base of the Tokushima Plain. Units 3 to 8 are Pleistocene and consist of marine and fluvial strata. Units 12-10 are considered to be Alluvium based on radiocarbon dates, and K-Ah tephra found in Unit 11. In Unit 10, we found a volcanic glass concentration derived from AT tephra, but the concentration is a possibility of rework. We intend to reveal the subsurface geological structure of the Tokushima Plain based on the database of borehole data, lithologic stratigraphy, volcanic ash stratigraphy and biostratigraphy

Alteration of Membrane Physicochemical Properties by Two Factors for Membrane Protein Integration

After a nascent chain of a membrane protein emerges from the ribosomal tunnel, the protein is integrated into the cell membrane. This process is controlled by a series of proteinaceous molecular devices, such as signal recognition particles and Sec translocons. In addition to these proteins, we discovered two endogenous components regulating membrane protein integration in the inner membrane of Escherichia coli. The integration is blocked by diacylglycerol (DAG), whereas the blocking is relieved by a glycolipid named membrane protein integrase (MPIase). Here, we investigated the influence of these integration-blocking and integration-promoting factors on the physicochemical properties of membrane lipids via solid-state NMR and fluorescence measurements. These factors did not have destructive effects on membrane morphology because the membrane maintained its lamellar structure and did not fuse in the presence of DAG and/or MPIase at their effective concentrations. We next focused on membrane flexibility. DAG did not affect the mobility of the membrane surface, whereas the sugar chain in MPIase was highly mobile and enhanced the flexibility of membrane lipid headgroups. Comparison with a synthetic MPIase analog revealed the effects of the long sugar chain on membrane properties. The acyl chain order inside the membrane was increased by DAG, whereas the increase was cancelled by the addition of MPIase. MPIase also loosened the membrane lipid packing. Focusing on the transbilayer movement, MPIase reduced the rapid flip-flop motion of DAG. On the other hand, MPIase could not compensate for the diminished lateral diffusion by DAG. These results suggest that by manipulating the membrane lipids dynamics, DAG inhibits the protein from contacting the inner membrane, whereas the flexible long sugar chain of MPIase increases the opportunity for interaction between the membrane and the protein, leading to membrane integration of the newly formed protein

Effects of Wnt-β-Catenin Signaling and Sclerostin on the Phenotypes of Rat Pheochromocytoma PC12 Cells

Pheochromocytomas and paragangliomas (PPGLs) are classified into 3 major categories with distinct driver genes: pseudohypoxia, kinase signaling, and Wnt-altered subtypes. PPGLs in the Wnt-altered subtype are sporadic and tend to be aggressive with metastasis, where somatic gene fusions affecting mastermind-like 3 (MAML3) and somatic mutations in cold shock domain containing E1 (CSDE1) cause overactivation of Wnt-β-catenin signaling. However, the relation between Wnt-β-catenin signaling and the biological behavior of PPGLs remains unexplored. In rat pheochromocytoma PC12 cells, Wnt3a treatment enhanced cell proliferation and suppressed mRNA expression of tyrosine hydroxylase (TH), the rate-limiting enzyme of catecholamine biosynthesis, and dopamine secretion. We identified the expression of sclerostin in PC12 cells, which is known as an osteocyte-derived negative regulator for Wnt signaling-driven bone formation. Inhibition of endogenous Wnt pathway by XAV939 or sclerostin resulted in attenuated cell proliferation and increased TH expression. Furthermore, Wnt3a pretreatment suppressed bone morphogenetic protein (BMP)-induced Smad1/5/9 phosphorylation whereas BMPs enhanced sclerostin expression in PC12 cells. In the Wnt-altered subtype, the increased Wnt-β-catenin pathway may contribute the aggressive clinical behavior with reduced catecholamine production. Furthermore, upregulated expression of sclerostin by BMPs may explain the osteolytic metastatic lesions observed in metastatic PPGLs

Thermal, Mechanical and Physical Properties of Supercooled Liquid in Pd-Cu-Ni-P Amorphous Alloy

The thermal stability, storage modulus (E\u27), loss tangent (tanδ), temperature coefficient of thermal expansion (α) and electrical resistivity of a supercooled liquid were measured for an amorphous Pd_Cu_Ni_P_ alloy with a wide supercooled liquid region before crystallization. The wide supercooled liquid region of 80 K is retained even at the low heating rate of 0.083 K/s. The E\u27 of the supercooled liquid decreases monotonously from 6.0 to 0.35 GPa with increasing temperature from 540 to 590 K and the tanδ increases from 0.07 to 0.52. These changes takes place through a single stage. The α value of the supercooled liquid is measured to be 2.0x10^ K^ which is larger by three orders than that (2.0x10^ K^) for the corresponding amorphous solid. The electrical resistivity decreases through two stages in the range from 2.27 to 2.15 μΩm in the supercooled liquid from 563 to 648 K. These physical and mechanical properties of the supercooled liquid are significantly different from those for the corresponding amorphous solid and important for future development of basic science of supercooled liquid and bulk amorphous alloys