Shaking Table Tests on Effiency of New Type of Drains

One method to mitigate liquefaction-induced hazard is the use of a system of vertical drains to dissipate the excess pore water pressure generated by earthquake loading. Performance assessments for these systems require the estimation of vertical drain spacing such that a maximum threshold level of excess pore pressure ratio is not exceeded. The objective of this research is to study efficiency of installing vertical drains on generation and dissipation of pore water pressure. For this purpose series of shaking table tests were performed using a laminar box, in Geotechnical Laboratory on Tokyo University. The ground model consists of two layers of saturated sand with relative densities of 80% and 40%. Two different types of vertical drains were investigated: prefabricated micro drain with diameter 22 mm and gravel drain with diameter of 30 mm. Several shaking table tests were performed with different distribution pattern in order to achieved optimal spacing between vertical drains on dissipation of pore water pressure. The tests were carried out with harmonic loading at frequency of 10 Hz and varying the magnitude of input acceleration in wide range from 0.05 to 0.60 (g). The results from above shaking table tests provided a detail view of efficiency of new type of vertical drains as one of the frequently used remedial measures against liquefaction

The Observation of Humoral Responses after Influenza Vaccination in Patients with Rheumatoid Arthritis Treated with Japanese Oriental (Kampo) Medicine: An Observational Study

Objective. The efficacy of influenza vaccination in patients treated with Japanese Oriental (Kampo) Medicine is unknown. The objectives of this study were to observe the efficacy of influenza vaccination in RA patients treated with Kampo. Methods. Trivalent influenza subunit vaccine was administered to 45 RA patients who had received Kampo. They were divided into 2 groups: RA patients treated without MTX (“without MTX group”) and treated with MTX (“with MTX group”). Antibody titers were measured before and 4 weeks after vaccination using hemagglutination inhibition assay. Results. Geometric mean titers (GMTs) of anti-influenza antibodies significantly increased for all influenza strains. Response to the influenza vaccination in RA patients treated with Kampo was not lower than that of healthy subjects and the response in the “with MTX group” had a tendency to be higher than that in RA patients treated with MTX in the previous study. There was no significant difference in the GMT after 4 weeks between the “with MTX group” and the “without MTX group.” A decreased efficacy in both seroprotection and seroconversion was not found in the “with MTX group.” Conclusion. These observations may open the way for further clinical trials to establish the efficacy for the influenza vaccination in RA patients treated with Kampo

TRPC6 counteracts TRPC3-Nox2 protein complex leading to attenuation of hyperglycemia-induced heart failure in mice

Excess production of reactive oxygen species (ROS) caused by hyperglycemia is a major risk factor for heart failure. We previously reported that transient receptor potential canonical 3 (TRPC3) channel mediates pressure overload-induced maladaptive cardiac fibrosis by forming stably functional complex with NADPH oxidase 2 (Nox2). Although TRPC3 has been long suggested to form hetero-multimer channels with TRPC6 and function as diacylglycerol-activated cation channels coordinately, the role of TRPC6 in heart is still obscure. We here demonstrated that deletion of TRPC6 had no impact on pressure overload-induced heart failure despite inhibiting interstitial fibrosis in mice. TRPC6-deficient mouse hearts 1 week after transverse aortic constriction showed comparable increases in fibrotic gene expressions and ROS production but promoted inductions of inflammatory cytokines, compared to wild type hearts. Treatment of TRPC6-deficient mice with streptozotocin caused severe reduction of cardiac contractility with enhancing urinary and cardiac lipid peroxide levels, compared to wild type and TRPC3-deficient mice. Knockdown of TRPC6, but not TRPC3, enhanced basal expression levels of cytokines in rat cardiomyocytes. TRPC6 could interact with Nox2, but the abundance of TRPC6 was inversely correlated with that of Nox2. These results strongly suggest that Nox2 destabilization through disrupting TRPC3-Nox2 complex underlies attenuation of hyperglycemia-induced heart failure by TRPC6.Fil: Oda, Sayaka. Okazaki Institute for Integrative Bioscience; Japón. SOKENDAI; JapónFil: Numaga Tomita, Takuro. Okazaki Institute for Integrative Bioscience; Japón. SOKENDAI; JapónFil: Kitajima, Naoyuki. Okazaki Institute for Integrative Bioscience; Japón. Kyushu University; JapónFil: Tomizaki, Takashi. Okazaki Institute for Integrative Bioscience; Japón. Kyushu University; Japón. University of Tsukuba; JapónFil: Harada, Eri. Ajinomoto Co.; Japón. EA Pharma Co.; JapónFil: Shimauchi, Tsukasa. Okazaki Institute for Integrative Bioscience; Japón. Kyushu University; JapónFil: Nishimura, Akiyuki. Okazaki Institute for Integrative Bioscience; Japón. SOKENDAI; Japón. Ajinomoto Co.; JapónFil: Ishikawa, Tatsuya. Kyushu University; Japón. Ajinomoto Co.; Japón. EA Pharma Co.; JapónFil: Kumagai, Yoshito. University of Tsukuba; JapónFil: Birnbaumer, Lutz. Pontificia Universidad Católica Argentina "Santa María de los Buenos Aires". Instituto de Investigaciones Biomédicas. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Oficina de Coordinación Administrativa Houssay. Instituto de Investigaciones Biomédicas; ArgentinaFil: Nishida, Motohiro. Okazaki Institute for Integrative Bioscience; Japón. SOKENDAI; Japón. Kyushu University; Japón. PRESTO; Japó

商業スポーツ施設における会員の満足度の変化に関する研究

The purpose of this research is to provide feed back to management of commercial fitness club in order to maintain and improve consumer satisfaction. This research applied the "discrepancy model" to explain changing consumer satisfaction scores. The model states that satisfaction is a function of the degree of congruency between aspiration and the perceived reality of experience. If the consumer\u27s expectation for the sport facility is higher than its performance, then consumer satisfaction will be low. Conversely, if consumer expectation is lower than performance, then satisfaction will be high. In order to address the objectives of research, member\u27s attitudes regarding a commercial fitness club were assessed twice. The questionnaire contained 22 satisfaction items, of which, one was related to the whole facility, thirteen to its individual facilities, four to its programs, and the remaining four items to its staff. Responses were made on a 7-point scale. Both changing expectations and performance scores for each concept and satisfaction scores for the facility as a whole were measured. A step-wise regression analysis tested the application of model. The dependent variable was the change in satisfaction for the whole facility and independent variables were the change in expectation and performance scores for the individual facilities, programs and staff. The findings were : 1) The variables that most influenced changing satisfaction scores were related to expectation and performance of the staff. 2) The variables that least influenced changing satisfaction were related to programs. 3) Expectation and performance scores influenced each other for changing satisfaction. (The discrepancy model explained 34% of the variation in changing satisfaction [adjusted R^2=0.355].

Therapeutic Outcomes of 15 Postoperative Bronchopleural Fistulas Including Seven Endoscopic Interventions

Therapeutic approaches to bronchopleural fistula (BPF) closure after lung resection are surgical or endoscopic interventions. We evaluated therapeutic outcomes to determine the optimal approach. We reviewed 15 patients who had developed BPF after lung resection for thoracic malignant diseases at our institution in the 10 years since 2008. The patients were 11 men and 4 women (mean age 68 years). We performed one pneumonectomy, 6 lobectomies, 7 segmentectomies, and one partial resection for malignant diseases. The median interval from lung resection to the BPF diagnosis was 46 days. The BPF-associated mortality rate was 26.7% (4/15). The rate of successful BPF closure was 66.6% (10/15). The endoscopic and surgical intervention success rates were 14.2% (1/7) and 69.2% (9/13), respectively (p<0.01). Of 5 patients who had failed BPF treatments, 4 died, and one transferred out without BPF closure. The therapeutic outcomes were related to preoperative comorbidities, performance status at the BPF diagnosis, time intervals from lung resection to BPF diagnosis, and presence of active pneumonia. The difference between endoscopic and surgical outcomes was nonsignificant, although the surgical intervention success rate was somewhat higher. The selection of endoscopic or surgical intervention for BPF does not significantly affect therapeutic outcomes

ホームアドバンテージ (Home Advantage) と観衆要因に関する研究

Home advantage is the term used to describe the phenomenon in which home teams win over 50% of the games played under a balanced home and away schedule. The phenomenon of home advantage was well documented in the late 1970s in a variety of sports at college and professional levels. The main purpose of this research was to determine whether home advantage exists in professional baseball and soccer in Japan. The percentages of games won at home were compared between the two sports. The second purpose was to examine the relative influence of a number of factors associated with crowd presence (absolute size of the crowd and crowd size relative to stadium capacity) on game outcome. Archival data were obtained for three seasons (1993/94/95 in both sports ; N=2, 037 games in baseball, N=611 games in soccer). The results of this study indicate that home advantage exists in professional baseball and soccer in Japan. Statistical evidence suggests that crowd factors do not present significant contributions to home advantage in Japanese professional baseball and soccer

Photon Upconverting Solid Films with Improved Efficiency for Endowing Perovskite Solar Cells with Near‐Infrared Sensitivity

Perovskite solar cells have emerged as the next‐generation high‐efficiency solar cell, but their absorption is mostly limited to the visible (vis) range. One possible solution is to integrate near‐infrared (NIR)‐to‐vis photon upconversion (UC). Herein, we show the first example of endowing perovskite solar cells with NIR sensitivity by using solid films showing NIR‐to‐vis UC based on triplet‐triplet annihilation (TTA). A high TTA‐UC efficiency of 4.1±0.3 % at an excitation intensity of 125 W/cm² is achieved by sensitizing a rubrene (acceptor) triplet with an osmium (Os) complex donor having singlet‐to‐triplet (S−T) absorption in the NIR range, and by increasing the fluorescence quantum yield through energy harvesting to a highly fluorescent collector. In particular, our spectroscopic studies indicate that the upconverted acceptor singlet energy is almost selectively transferred to the collector rather than being quenched by the donor. By attaching the TTA‐UC film behind a semi‐transparent perovskite solar cell, a photocurrent generation is observed under excitation at 938 nm