Estimation of response of steel sheet plated with thin hard layer

Elastic and elastic-plastic responses were examined of cantilevers made from a cold rolled steel sheet and made from the same sheet plated with a thin hard layer. Tension test of these sheets showed a non-linear behaviour even in the area of small strain and conventional linear theory of cantilever had to be modified. By extending this theory to a sheet plated with a thin hard layer Young’s modulus of plated layer was estimated. The range of estimated Young’s modulus was similar to those in previous works but material non-linearity, especially on the compression side, must be measured more precisely

Investigation of Electromagnetic Noise Transmission Characteristics from AC Mains Port to Telecommunication Port

A method of evaluating the isolation factor from an AC mains port to a telecommunication port was investigated. Telecommunication equipment was represented by a 4-port network consisting of a pair of wire and ground. The relationship between input and output signals of the network was represented by an F-matrix and the isolation factor (ratio of input to output signals) was derived from the matrix. We developed a method of measuring the parameters and the measured values for a resistance-network agree well with calculated ones. The evaluation results of the isolation factor for three types of telecommunication equipment show that isolation for differential-mode noise from AC mains to telecommunication ports is larger than that for common-mode noise.2003 IEEE Symposium on Electromagnetic Compatibility, August 18-22, 2003, Bosto

Clinical and genetic aspects of mild hypophosphatasia in Japanese patients

Background: Hypophosphatasia (HPP) is a rare inborn error of metabolism that results from a dysfunctional tissue non-specific alkaline phosphatase enzyme (TNSALP). Although genotype-phenotype correlations have been described in HPP patients, only sparse information is currently available on the genetics of mild type HPP. Methods: We investigated 5 Japanese patients from 3 families with mild HPP (patients 1 and 2 are siblings; patient 4 is a daughter of patient 5) who were referred to Fujita Health University due to the premature loss of deciduous teeth. Physical and dental examinations, and blood, urine and bone density tests were conducted. Genetic analysis of the ALPL gene was performed in all patients with their informed consent. Results: After a detailed interview and examination, we found characteristic symptoms of HPP in some of the study cases. Mobile teeth or the loss of permanent teeth were observed in 2 patients, and 3 out of 5 patients had a history of asthma. The serum ALP levels of all patients were 30% below the lower limit of the age equivalent normal range. ALPL gene analysis revealed compound heterozygous mutations, including Ile395Val and Leu520Argfs in family 1, Val95Met and Gly491Arg in family 2, and a dominant missense mutation (Gly456Arg) in family 3. The 3D-modeling of human TNSALP revealed three mutations (Val95Met, Ile395Val and Gly456Arg) at the homodimer interface. Severe collisions between the side chains were predicted for the Gly456Arg variant. Discussion: One of the characteristic findings of this present study was a high prevalence of coexisting asthma and a high level serum IgE level. These characteristics may account for the fragility of tracheal tissues and a predisposition to asthma in patients with mild HPP. The genotypes of the five mild HPP patients in our present study series included 1) compound heterozygous for severe and hypomorphic mutations, and 2) dominant-negative mutations. All of these mutations were at the homodimer interface, but only the dominant-negative mutation was predicted to cause a severe collision effect between the side chains. This may account for varying mechanisms leading to different effects on TNSALP function

Hydrated Seal Lip for Live Center in Machine Tools

When performing a cutting operation, a water-soluble cutting fluid may be used for cooling. Labyrinth and oil seals are commonly used in the rotating centers of machine tools to prevent the cutting fluid and dust from entering the inner parts. However, these seals do not demonstrate adequate functionality in a water-based environment. Therefore, a new rotary shaft seal was devised to separate the water-soluble cutting fluid from interacting with air. The rotary shaft seal was made from polyvinyl formal (PVF). Because PVF is a hydrophilic material, it is expected to provide suitable functionality as a seal in a water-based environment. Performance evaluations of PVF and oil seals were experimentally obtained and compared from the point of view of frictional torque, water-soluble cutting fluid leakage volume, and service life as a seal

RARGE: a large-scale database of RIKEN Arabidopsis resources ranging from transcriptome to phenome

The RIKEN Arabidopsis Genome Encyclopedia (RARGE) database houses information on biological resources ranging from transcriptome to phenome, including RIKEN Arabidopsis full-length (RAFL) complementary DNAs (cDNAs), their promoter regions, Dissociation (Ds) transposon-tagged lines and expression data from microarray experiments. RARGE provides tools for searching by resource code, sequence homology or keyword, and rapid access to detailed information on the resources. We have isolated 245 946 RAFL cDNA clones and collected 11 933 transposon-tagged lines, which are available from the RIKEN Bioresource Center and are stored in RARGE. The RARGE web interface can be accessed at http://rarge.gsc.riken.jp/. Additionally, we report 90 000 new RAFL cDNA clones here

Investigation of Methods to Create Future Multimodal Emotional Data for Robot Interactions in Patients with Schizophrenia : A Case Study

Rapid progress in humanoid robot investigations offers possibilities for improving the competencies of people with social disorders, although this improvement of humanoid robots remains unexplored for schizophrenic people. Methods for creating future multimodal emotional data for robot interactions were studied in this case study of a 40-year-old male patient with disorganized schizophrenia without comorbidities. The qualitative data included heart rate variability (HRV), video-audio recordings, and field notes. HRV, Haar cascade classifier (HCC), and Empath API© were evaluated during conversations between the patient and robot. Two expert nurses and one psychiatrist evaluated facial expressions. The research hypothesis questioned whether HRV, HCC, and Empath API© are useful for creating future multimodal emotional data about robot–patient interactions. The HRV analysis showed persistent sympathetic dominance, matching the human–robot conversational situation. The result of HCC was in agreement with that of human observation, in the case of rough consensus. In the case of observed results disagreed upon by experts, the HCC result was also different. However, emotional assessments by experts using Empath API© were also found to be inconsistent. We believe that with further investigation, a clearer identification of methods for multimodal emotional data for robot interactions can be achieved for patients with schizophrenia

Postischemic infusion of sivelestat sodium hydrate, a selective neutrophil elastase inhibitor, protects against myocardial stunning in swine.

PURPOSE: It seems controversial whether or not neutrophil elastase inhibitors are effective in attenuating myocardial ischemia/reperfusion injury. We thus investigated possible protective effects of sivelestat, a neutrophil elastase inhibitor, against myocardial stunning i.e., prolonged myocardial dysfunction following a brief episode of ischemia. METHODS: Swine were divided into control group (group C), low-dose sivelestat group (group L), and high-dose sivelestat group (group H) (n = 7 for each group). All the swine were subjected to myocardial ischemia through ligation of the left anterior descending (LAD) coronary artery for 12-min, followed by 90-min reperfusion. Sivelestat was infused intracoronally at concentrations of 6 and 60 mg/ml throughout the reperfusion period in groups L and H, respectively, while saline was infused in the group C. Heart rate (HR), left ventricular developed pressure (LVdP), maximum rate of LVdP (LVdP/dt (max)), LV end-diastolic pressure (LVEDP), percentage of segment shortening (%SS, an index of regional myocardial contractility), and coronary venous interleukin-6 concentration in the LAD perfusion area were measured before ischemic induction and during reperfusion. RESULTS: The ischemia/reperfusion insult did not cause any significant changes in HR, LVdP, LVdP/dt (max), and LVEDP in all groups. However, it significantly reduced %SS in the LAD perfusion area and increased the interleukin-6 concentration in group C. Those changes in %SS and the interleukin-6 concentration were both greatly attenuated, but not prevented, in groups L and H. CONCLUSION: Sivelestat presumably attenuates myocardial contractile dysfunction due to myocardial stunning by inhibiting neutrophil-derived elastase, thereby suppressing the production of interleukin-6 in activated neutrophils

Comparison of Subjective Facial Emotion Recognition and “Facial Emotion Recognition Based on Multi-Task Cascaded Convolutional Network Face Detection” between Patients with Schizophrenia and Healthy Participants

Patients with schizophrenia may exhibit a flat affect and poor facial expressions. This study aimed to compare subjective facial emotion recognition (FER) and FER based on multi-task cascaded convolutional network (MTCNN) face detection in 31 patients with schizophrenia (patient group) and 40 healthy participants (healthy participant group). A Pepper Robot was used to converse with the 71 aforementioned participants; these conversations were recorded on video. Subjective FER (assigned by medical experts based on video recordings) and FER based on MTCNN face detection was used to understand facial expressions during conversations. This study confirmed the discriminant accuracy of the FER based on MTCNN face detection. The analysis of the smiles of healthy participants revealed that the kappa coefficients of subjective FER (by six examiners) and FER based on MTCNN face detection concurred (κ = 0.63). The perfect agreement rate between the subjective FER (by three medical experts) and FER based on MTCNN face detection in the patient, and healthy participant groups were analyzed using Fisher’s exact probability test where no significant difference was observed (p = 0.72). The validity and reliability were assessed by comparing the subjective FER and FER based on MTCNN face detection. The reliability coefficient of FER based on MTCNN face detection was low for both the patient and healthy participant groups

Investigation of QOL of hospice patients by using EORTC-QLQ-C30 questionnaire

This study was designed to investigate the quality of life (QOL) of cancer patients being cared for in a hospice, in the expectation that the results would serve as useful basic materials for improving the care of such patients. The subjects were 24 patients who had been diagnosed as having cancer and were hospitalized in the hospice wing of a hospital. The study was carried out as a crossing investigation using the Japanese version of the EORTC-QLQ-C30 Ver.3 questionnaire prepared by the European Organization for Research and Treatment of Cancer. The results of the survey showed that it was important to be prepared to prevent or treat diarrhea at the time of bowel movement and confirmed the need for care aimed at reducing fatigue. In addition, the emotional functioning and financial problems of the patients showed strong correlations with the QOL, revealing the need for psychological and financial support of cancer patients in hospices