Geotechnical Aspects of Recent Japan Earthquakes

Recently middle class earthquakes have occurred and caused various geotechnical damages every year in Japan. Among them geotechnical damages during five earthquakes from 2004 to 2008 are introduced. The 2004 Niigataken-chuetsu earthquake caused failure of expressway embankments and uplift of sewage manholes. Liquefaction-induced damage to quay walls and tanks occurred in artificially reclaimed lands during the 2005 Fukuokaken-seiho-oki earthquake. Liquefiable area had been predicted about 17 years before the earthquake. Liquefied zones were fairly coincided with the predicted liquefiable zones. Very severe slide of highway embankments occurred at 11 sites during the 2007 Notohanto earthquake. During the 2007 Niigataken-chuetsu-oki earthquake, liquefaction induced in old river channels and on gentle slopes of sand dunes, and caused settlement of houses and breakage of low pressure gas pipes. However, some houses, sewage manholes, gas pipes were survived. Huge landslides and serious debris flows occurred along the slopes of Kurikoma Volcano during the 2008 Iwate-Miyagi-nairiku earthquake. Many landslides and debris flows occurred

Partially-disordered photonic-crystal thin films for enhanced and robust photovoltaics

We present a general framework for the design of thin-film photovoltaics based on a partially-disordered photonic crystal that has both enhanced absorption for light trapping and reduced sensitivity to the angle and polarization of incident radiation. The absorption characteristics of different lattice structures are investigated as an initial periodic structure is gradually perturbed. We find that an optimal amount of disorder controllably introduced into a multi-lattice photonic crystal causes the characteristic narrow-band, resonant peaks to be broadened resulting in a device with enhanced and robust performance ideal for typical operating conditions of photovoltaic applications.Comment: 5 pages, 4 figure

IgG Abnormality in Narcolepsy and Idiopathic Hypersomnia

BACKGROUND: A close association between narcolepsy and the Human Leukocyte Antigen (HLA)-DQB1*0602 allele suggests the involvement of the immune system, or possibly an autoimmune process. We investigated serum IgG levels in narcolepsy. METHODOLOGY/PRINCIPAL FINDINGS: We measured the serum total IgG levels in 159 Japanese narcolepsy-cataplexy patients positive for the HLA-DQB1*0602 allele, 28 idiopathic hypersomnia patients with long sleep time, and 123 healthy controls (the HLA-DQB1*0602 allele present in 45 subjects). The serum levels of each IgG subclass were subsequently measured. The distribution of serum IgG was significantly different among healthy controls negative for the HLA-DQB1*0602 allele (11.66+/-3.55 mg/ml), healthy controls positive for the HLA-DQB1*0602 allele (11.45+/-3.43), narcolepsy patients (9.67+/-3.38), and idiopathic hypersomnia patients (13.81+/-3.80). None of the following clinical variables, age, disease duration, Epworth Sleepiness Scale, smoking habit and BMI at the time of blood sampling, were associated with IgG levels in narcolepsy or idiopathic hypersomnia. Furthermore we found the decrease in IgG1 and IgG2 levels, stable expression of IgG3, and the increase in the proportion of IgG4 in narcolepsy patients with abnormally low IgG levels. The increase in the proportion of IgG4 levels was also found in narcolepsy patients with normal serum total IgG levels. Idiopathic hypersomnia patients showed a different pattern of IgG subclass distribution with high IgG3 and IgG4 level, low IgG2 level, and IgG1/IgG2 imbalance. CONCLUSIONS/SIGNIFICANCE: Our study is the first to determine IgG abnormalities in narcolepsy and idiopathic hypersomnia by measuring the serum IgG levels in a large number of hypersomnia patients. The observed IgG abnormalities indicate humoral immune alterations in narcolepsy and idiopathic hypersomnia. Different IgG profiles suggest immunological differences between narcolepsy and idiopathic hypersomnia

Numerical Simulation of Large-Scale Internal Seiche in Lake Inawashiro

Source: ICHE Conference Archive - https://mdi-de.baw.de/icheArchiv

Ground state of the spin-1/2 chain of green dioptase at high fields

The gem-stone dioptase Cu6Si6O18.6H2O has a chiral crystal structure of equilateral triangular helices consisting of Cu-3d spins. It shows an antiferromagnetic order with an easy axis along c at TN = 15.5 K under zero field, and a magnetization jump at HC = 13.5 T when the field is applied along c-axis. By 29Si-NMR measurements, we have revealed that the high-field state is essentially the two sub-lattice structure, and that the component within ab-plane is collinear. The result indicates no apparent match with the geometrical pattern of helical spin chain.Comment: SCES2013, Hongo, Toky

Hepatic infarction following abdominal interventional procedures.

To clarify the incidence, background, and progress of hepatic infarction following interventional procedures, cases of hepatic infarction following interventional procedures at our department during the last decade were identified by reviewing the clinical records of 1982 abdominal angiography and interventional procedures and records of abdominal CT. Nine episodes (0.5%) in 8 patients were identified as hepatic infarction following an interventional procedure. Five episodes were preceded by embolization of the hepatic or celiac artery at emergency angiography for postoperative bleeding with hemorrhagic shock. Three episodes followed the elected interventional procedure for hepatocellular carcinoma, and the remaining episode occurred after 12 months of chemoinfusion through an indwelling catheter in the hepatic artery and portal vein. Hepatic arterial occlusion in all episodes and portal venous flow abnormality in 5 episodes were observed on angiography. Four patients whose liver function was initially impaired died of hepatic infarction, although the extent of the disease on CT did not appear to be related to the mortality. Multiple risk factors, including arterial insufficiency, were observed in each patient. The incidence of hepatic infarction following interventional procedures in this series was low but sometimes fatal, and occurred most frequently in emergency embolization in hemorrhagic shock.</p