Similarity Measure among Structures of Local Government Statute Books based on Tree Edit Distance

A similarity measure between statute books of local governments that can help reveal suggestive similarities is proposed. The regulations of a local government are stored in a statute book, and they are categorized in a layered structure. The layered structure can be described as an ordered tree in computer science, and we define the similarity of statute books as the tree edit distance between two trees. We have calculated the similarities among statute books of the 47 Japanese prefectures and plotted them on a plane using multi-dimensional scaling. The results visually indicate the relationships of similarities among them, and there are several outlier prefectures and clusters. This will help find local governments with similar regulations, which will facilitate the writing or revision of statutes, especially in small local governments, which are typically short staffed

Effect of Anesthetics on Phosphate (32P) Metabolism of the Rat Brain

The effect of chlorpromazine (Chp), ether, hexobarbital (evipal) and urethan on the content and turnover rate of phosphate compounds in rat brain tissue was investigated. 32P was taken up into various phosphate fractions in the following order of decreasing rate: ATP, creatine phosphate (CP), nucleoprotein (NP) and phospholipid (LP). ATP concentration was increased and the turnover rate of the fraction was diminished by Chp with evipal (Chp-evipal) and Chp with urethan (Chp-urethan) anesthesia. CP concentration was not appreciably changed but its turnover rate was decreased except for Chp with ether (Chp-ether) anesthesia in which a reduction of CP and acceleration of its turnover rate was noted. These findings suggest that the utilization of high energy phosphate esters is inhibited by Chp-evipal and Chp-urethan but not by Chp-ether. The incorporation of 32P into LP and NP was significantly decreased after 2-hour anesthesia, while it was rather increased within 30 minutes particularly with Chp-ether anesthesia. A different mode of action of Chp-ether on phosphate metabolism of the brain is suspected when compared with that of Chp-evipal as well as Chp-urethan

Tribological properties of PTFE filled plants-derived semi-aromatic polyamide (PA10T) and GF reinforced PTFE/PA10T composites

For the purpose of developing the new engineering materials such as structural materials and tribomaterials based on plants-derived polymers, the tribological properties of polytetrafluoroethylene (PTFE) filled plants-derived semi-aromatic polyamide 10T (PA10T) composites and glass fiber (GF) reinforced PTFE/PA10T composites were investigated. PA10T is a kind of polyphthalamide (PPA, semi-aromatic polyamide) and biomass polymer made from plants-derived decamethylenediamine and coal-derived terephthalic acid. PTFE/PA10T and GF/PA10T/PTFE composites were melt-mixed by a twin screw extruder and injection-molded. Their mechanical properties such as tensile, Izod impact, and tribological properties were evaluated. Tribological properties were measured by a ring-on-plate type sliding wear tester under dry condition. Tribological properties of PA10T such as frictional coefficient, specific wear rate and limiting pv value improved with the addition of PTFE, although the mechanical properties such as tensile strength and tensile modulus decreased with PTFE. On the other hand, the frictional coefficient and specific wear rate of GF/PA10T/PTFE composites were higher than those of PTFE/PA10T composites, however limiting pv value and mechanical properties improved significantly with the filling of GF. It follows from these results that it may be possible to develop the new tribomaterials based on plants-derived polymer composites with sufficient balances between mechanical and tribological properties

Large Magnetic-Field-Induced Strains in Sintered Chromium Tellurides

Sintered samples of Cr3Te4 and Cr2Te3 are found to show large strains accompanied by large volume changes under a magnetic field. In Cr3Te4, volume increases of deltaV/V = 500-1170 ppm by applying a magnetic field of 9 T are observed over the entire temperature range below 350 K. At room temperature, the deltaV/V value exceeds 1000 ppm, which is considerably larger than the maximum values reported for Cr-based magnets thus far and is comparable to the room-temperature value of forced-volume magnetostriction in invar alloys. Cr2Te3 show a large deltaV/V of 680 ppm when applying a magnetic field of 9 T at 200 K. Both samples display particularly large volume increases around the Curie temperature, where they also show negative thermal expansion due to microstructural effects, suggesting that the cooperation between anisotropic lattice deformation associated with the magnetic ordering and microstructural effects is essential for the manifestation of the large magnetic-field-induced volume changes.Comment: 6 pages, 6 figure

Major Surgical Treatment of Osteoporotic Vertebral Fractures in the Elderly: A Comparison of Anterior Spinal Fusion, Anterior-Posterior Combined Surgery and Posterior Closing Wedge Osteotomy

Study DesignA retrospective study.PurposeTo clarify the differences among the three major surgeries for osteoporotic vertebral fractures based on the clinical and radiological results.Overview of LiteratureMinimally invasive surgery like balloon kyphoplasty has been used to treat osteoporotic vertebral fractures, but major surgery is necessary for severely impaired patients. However, there are controversies on the surgical procedures.MethodsThe clinical and radiographic results of patients who underwent major surgery for osteoporotic vertebral fracture were retrospectively compared, among anterior spinal fusion (group A, 9 patients), single-stage combined anterior-posterior procedure (group AP, 8 patients) and posterior closing wedge osteotomy (group P, 9 patients). Patients who underwent revision surgery were evaluated just before the revision surgery, and the other patients were evaluated at the final follow-up examination, which was defined as the end point of the evaluations for the comparison.ResultsThe operation time was significantly longer in group AP than in the other two groups. The postoperative correction of kyphosis was significantly greater in group P than in group A. Although the differences were not significant, better outcomes were obtained in group P in: back pain relief at the end point; ambulatory ability at the end point; and average loss of correction.ConclusionsThe posterior closing wedge osteotomy demonstrated better surgical results than the anterior spinal fusion procedure and the single-stage combined anterior-posterior procedure