EDUCATIONAL METHODS TO CHANGE THE ATTITUDES OF TRANSPORT PLANNERS TOWARDS ENVIRONMENTALLY SUSTAINABLE TRANSPORTATION SYSTEMS IN DEVELOPING COUNTRIES

This paper describes a pilot project aimed at increasing the exposure of transport planners in Bangkok and Colombo to Bus Rapid Transit (BRT). The objective of the project was to examine the efficiencies of three educational methods used to increase the understanding of local transport officials about BRT as well as changing their attitudes toward the implementation of BRT in their cities. Two methods were found to increase the planners' inclination to implement BRT: 1) providing the planners with information on public attitudes and perceptions of BRT, and 2) asking them to make their intentions more concrete by specifying possible BRT routes on a city map. A method that provided detailed information on using and operating a model BRT system appeared to increase the feeling of “obligation” of the planners to develop a BRT system for their countries. The combination of these methods would possibly be effective in strategies to change transport planners' attitudes toward BRT

Influence of friction stir welding conditions on joinability of oxide dispersion strengthened steel / F82H ferritic/martensitic steel joint

AbstractAs one of the joining methods for the reduced activation materials to realize the fusion reactors with high efficiency in the future, friction stir welding (FSW) is selected for fabricating the dissimilar butt joint between oxide-dispersion strengthened (ODS) alloy and F82H, and the effect of FSW conditions on joinability of this dissimilar joint was examined. The sound dissimilar joint can be produced under the condition that ODS plate is set on the advancing side and the FSW tool is plunged into F82H. As for the mild steel backside plate, the sound joint can be fabricated in the case of 150rpm rotational speed and 50mm/min traveling speed. On the other hand, by employing the silicon nitride backside plate, the total heat input should be decreased to obtain the sound joint, where the traveling speed is 100 or 150mm/min and rotational speed is 150rpm. In addition, the finite element heat conduction analyses indicate that the influence of traveling speed on the joinability with the mild steel backside plate seems to be smaller than that with the silicon nitride plate and the allowable range of the appropriate traveling speed for the joint becomes to be wider by employing the silicon nitride backside plate

Two cases of possible neuro-Sweet disease with meningoencephalitis as the initial manifestation

We report 2 cases that were considered to be neuro-Sweet disease. They initially manifested with meningoencephalitis and no skin lesions, and rapidly improved with corticosteroid therapy. In both cases, patients complained of meningitic symptoms such as fever and headache, and HLA-B54 and -Cw1 turned out to be positive over the clinical course. Cerebrospinal fluid analysis showed increased levels of lymphocytes and protein. In case #1, fluid-attenuated inversion recovery (FLAIR), magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) and diffusion-weighted images (DWI) showed high-intensity signals in the right dorsal medulla oblongata, bilateral dorsal midbrain, and left thalamus. In case #2, FLAIR and DWI showed high-intensity signals in the bilateral cerebellar cortex and left caudate nucleus. Symptoms and MRI images were markedly improved in both cases after corticosteroid pulse therapy. According to published diagnostic criteria, these 2 cases were considered possible neuro-Sweet disease. These cases suggest that the combination of meningoencephalitis and HLA specificity is important to consider the possibility of neuro-Sweet disease, even without skin lesions

広島大学考古学研究室所蔵の西アジア青銅柄鉄剣をめぐって

いわゆる「鉄芯」入り青銅剣（バイメタル青銅剣）とされてきた広島大学考古学研究室所蔵資料についての再調査を行う。バイメタル青銅剣は、紀元前800～1200ごろ年にカスピ海南部の山岳地帯において出現する金属器で、鉄利用の初期の様相を明らかにするうえで重要である。西アジア北部地域における鉄製利器の祖型として、鉄製棒状部品を内蔵する青銅剣（「鉄芯」入り青銅剣）の存在が指摘され、編年・機能研究が行われてきた。しかし、当該資料はおそらく現代において改変された青銅柄鉄剣であったことが判明した。他機関所蔵品の知見も加味すると、研究対象の多くに同様の可能性があり、「鉄芯入り」青銅剣を前提に導かれたこれまでの知見や議論は根本的な見直しを迫られることになる。紀元前2000年紀の終わりにカスピ海周辺に出現する「鉄芯入り」青銅剣が実は青銅柄鉄剣であったわけであり、それ以前に鉄製利器の導入期といった、より原初的な初期鉄器の実態がある可能性が高くなる。今回の再調査はそうした研究の脆弱性を露呈し、西アジアにおける初期鉄器時代の議論を転換する結果となった

Examples of Artifacts from the Nakayama Shell Midden: Nakayama I type Rice Kettle Ceramics <Research and Studies at the Department of Archaeology: New Research Material>

The Nakayama Shell Midden site dates from the Final Jomon to the Middle Yayoi period, and is located in the vicinity of Hiroshima City, Hiroshima prefecture. Artifacts excavated from this site are known as “Nakayama-style pottery”, and are representative of this time period. Here, we report on the Nakayama I type pottery of the first half of the Early Yayoi period, and present a plan for subdividing it into classes. This classification scheme makes it possible to understand the nature of the transition from the Nakayama B type pottery of the Final Jomon, to the Nakayama II type pottery of the latter half of the Early Yayoi period, suggesting a temporal and successive continuity