THEORETICAL ESTIMATION OF MECHANICAL PROPERTIES OF PLYWOOD-SHEATHED SHEAR WALL WITH COMBINED USE OF ADHESIVE TAPE AND WOOD DOWELS

Shear walls often function as elements that provide resistance to horizontal external forces exerted on wooden frames. Many shear walls with superior strength performance have been developed for this purpose. Amidst this backdrop, we have attempted to develop a shear wall that, in addition to strength performance, decreases the time and labor required for disposal. More specifically, the authors proposed a novel “metalless” shear wall: a shear wall in which industrial double-sided adhesive tape is used to attach plywood to the framework. Also, wood dowels are used as supplementary connectors with the aim of enhancing strength performance. Unlike conventional shear walls that use nails and metal fixtures, separation at the time of disposal is unnecessary, and therefore, disposal time and labor of the wall are anticipated to be significantly decreased. Thus, this study involved demonstrating and verifying a methodof theoretical analysis for the mechanical performance of these kinds of shear walls toward in-plane shear force. Specifically, this study derived a method to estimate the mechanical behavior (load-deformation angle relationship) of plywood-sheathed shear walls based on shear performance obtained from double shear tests of joint specimens with the combined use of adhesive tape and wood dowels. Also, the validity of the method was experimentally verified. The results showed that the method proposed in this study was able to estimate the mechanical behavior and mechanical properties of the newly proposed shear wall, and the validity of the method was confirmed

ENERGETICS APPROACH TO FATIGUE BEHAVIOR OF WOODEN JOINT USING DOUBLE-SIDED ADHESIVE TAPE

The authors have previously studied the possibility of the use of industrial double-sided adhesive tape as a method for jointing wooden panel to wooden framework. The mechanical performance of joints formed by such methods is comparable to that of nailed joint under static load conditions. However, the mechanical performance of such joints has not been evaluated under cyclic load conditions. This study was conducted to investigate this aspect of their performance. Double-shear specimens were prepared by bonding wooden panel to wooden framework using two types of adhesive tape with different substrates. Specimens were also prepared with wooden dowels to strengthen their jointing performance. The joint specimens were subjected to cyclic shear loading testing. The results of the tests were analyzed from an energetics perspective, and the shear deformability of the specimens at failure was estimated. The test results indicate that both the specimens formed using adhesive tape and those formed using wooden dowels had fatigue properties comparable to nailed joint specimens. A tendency for the shear deformability caused by cyclic loading to increase with the stress level was observed. It was possible to estimate the shear deformability by evaluating the energy absorption capacity of the joints from an energetics standpoint

The Role of Estrogen Receptor β (ERβ) in the Establishment of Hierarchical Social Relationships in Male Mice

Acquisition of social dominance is important for social species including mice, for preferential access to foods and mates. Male mice establish social rank through agonistic behaviors, which are regulated by gonadal steroid hormone, testosterone, as its original form and aromatized form. It is well known that estrogen receptors (ERs), particularly ER α (ERα), mediate effects of aromatized testosterone, i.e., 17β-estradiol, but precise role played by ER β (ERβ) is still unclear. In the present study, we investigated effects of ERβ gene disruption on social rank establishment in male mice. Adult male ERβ knockout (βERKO) mice and their wild type (WT) littermates were paired based on genotype- and weight-matched manner and tested against each other repeatedly during 7 days experimental period. They underwent 4 trials of social interaction test in neutral cage (homogeneous set test) every other day. Along repeated trials, WT but not βERKO pairs showed a gradual increase of agonistic behaviors including aggression and tail rattling, and a gradual decrease of latency to social rank determination in tube test conducted after each trial of the social interaction test. Analysis of behavioral transition further suggested that WT winners in the tube test showed one-sided aggression during social interaction test suggesting WT pairs went through a process of social rank establishment. On the other hand, a dominant-subordinate relationship in βERKO pairs was not as apparent as that in WT pairs. Moreover, βERKO mice showed lower levels of aggressive behavior than WT mice in social interaction tests. These findings collectively suggest that ERβ may play a significant role in the establishment and maintenance of hierarchical social relationships among male mice

Power-stage frequency response cancellation of DC-DC converter with digital control

Recently, the performance of the DSP and FPGA is developed remarkably. So, fully digital control is enabled in switch mode power supplies. However, in many cases, the control system is built by very complicatedly and very difficult theories such as the adaptive control. Furthermore, in most popular PID control, its design method of the parameters is not clear, so derivation of the optimal parameters is very difficult. This paper proposes the interesting control technique which is cancelled the transfer function of the converter by using pole-zero-cancellation method. This technique is very simple and easy to stability design.2010 International Symposium on Power Electronics, Electrical Drives, Automation and Motion (SPEEDAM 2010) : Pisa, Italy, 2010.06.14-2010.06.1

The Role of Estrogen Receptor β in the Dorsal Raphe Nucleus on the Expression of Female Sexual Behavior in C57BL/6J Mice

17β-Estradiol (E2) regulates the expression of female sexual behavior by acting through estrogen receptor (ER) α and β. Previously, we have shown that ERβ knockout female mice maintain high level of lordosis expression on the day after behavioral estrus when wild-type mice show a clear decline of the behavior, suggesting ERβ may be involved in inhibitory regulation of lordosis. However, it is not identified yet in which brain region(s) ERβ may mediate an inhibitory action of E2. In this study, we have focused on the dorsal raphe nucleus (DRN) that expresses ERβ in higher density than ERα. We site specifically knocked down ERβ in the DRN in ovariectomized mice with virally mediated RNA interference method. All mice were tested weekly for a total of 3 weeks for their lordosis expression against a stud male in two consecutive days: day 1 with the hormonal condition mimicking the day of behavioral estrus, and day 2 under the hormonal condition mimicking the day after behavioral estrus. We found that the level of lordosis expression in ERβ knockdown (βERKD) mice was not different from that of control mice on day 1. However, βERKD mice continuously showed elevated levels of lordosis behavior on day 2 tests, whereas control mice showed a clear decline of the behavior on day 2. These results suggest that the expression of ERβ in the DRN may be involved in the inhibitory regulation of sexual behavior on the day after behavioral estrus in cycling female mice

Liquid Biopsy Revealed HBOC Pedigree and Led to Medical Management Among the Relatives

A hereditary breast and ovarian cancer (HBOC) pedigree was detected via liquid biopsy, and cancer prevention was initiated for the patient’s daughter, after receiving a definitive result from BRCA genetic testing. A 48-yearold woman with ovarian cancer was administered precision medicine, which used cell-free DNA from plasma. The results revealed a pathogenic variant of BRCA1 as a presumed germline pathogenic mutation. We confirmed the germline pathological variant BRCA1 c.81-1G> A and suggested treatment with a PARP inhibitor. One of her three children had the variant, was diagnosed as an unaffected pathogenic variant carrier, and was advised to initiate surveillance

Human Blood Feeding Activity of Female Hybrids between Culex pipiens pipiens and Culex pipiens quinquefasciatus（Diptera: Culicidae）

Human blood feeding activity was examined in females of hybrids between Culex pipiens pipiens and Culex pipiens quinquefasciatus during long photoperiod at 25℃. Blood feeding rates of hybrids were lower than in Culex pipiens quinquefasciatus and Culex pipiens pallens, and higher than in Culex pipiens pipiens, because no females fed on human blood in Culex pipiens pipiens