Restrictive and stimulative impacts of COVID-19 policies on activity trends: A case study of Kyoto

This paper employs regression with ARIMA errors (RegARIMA) to quantify the impacts of multiple non-pharmaceutical interventions, daily new cases, seasonal and calendar effects, and other factors on activity trends across the timeline of the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic in Japan. The discussion focuses on two controversial policy sets imposed by the Japanese government that aim to contain the pandemic and to stimulate the recovery of the economy. The containing effect was achieved by stay-at-home requests and declaring a “State of Emergency” in the combat against the first waves of infectious cases. After observing reduced cases, Go-to-travel and Go-to-eat campaigns were launched in July 2020 to encourage recreational travel and to revive the economy. To better understand the impact of the policies we utilize “Google trends” which measure how much these policies are looked up online. We suggest this reflects how much they are part of the public discussion. A case study is conducted in Kyoto, a city famous for tourism. The proposed RegARIMA model is compared with linear regression and time series models. The outperformances in measuring the magnitude of intervention impacts and forecasting the future trends are confirmed by using a total of twelve activity and mobility indices as the dependent variable. Nine indices are released by Google and Apple and three are obtained from local Wi-Fi packet sensors. The effect of the State of Emergency declaration is found to erode at the second implementation, and the second stage of the Go-to-travel campaign successfully stimulated travel demand in the autumn sighting season of 2020

First records of two invasive species of thrips （Insecta： Thysanoptera） from Kyoto and Wakayama Prefectures

Two invasive species of thrips were recorded from Kyoto and Wakayama Prefectures. Adults and larvae of Haplothrips nigricornis were collected on flower heads of Tagetes patula at the University Farm, Kyoto Prefectural University in Shimogamo, Kyoto City and on those of Senecio madagascariensis in Gobo City, Wakayama Prefecture. Some adults of Tenothrips frici were captured on flower heads of Hypochaeris radicata on roadsides in Minamiyamashiro-mura, Kyoto, and in Wakayama City, Wakayama. We noted T. frici found in Sapporo City, Hokkaido, as the most northern locality in Japan

Increased number of Judo therapy facilities in Japan and changes in their geographical distribution

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Judo therapy is a well established Japanese co-medical profession specializing in outpatient manual treatment of fractures and sprains. Recently, the number of judo therapists has been rapidly increasing as a result of proliferation judo therapy academies. This study examines whether such rapid increases have improved geographical distribution of judo therapy facilities in Japan.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>The number of judo therapy facilities and the population in each municipality were obtained from the Web yellow pages and from Japanese census data for 2004, 2006, and 2008, respectively. Lorenz curves and Gini indices were calculated to demonstrate distributions of judo therapy facilities per 100,000 people. A bootstrapped method was used to identify statistical significances of differences in Gini indices.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>In all municipalities, the mean numbers of judo therapy facilities per 100,000 people were 15.3 in 2004, 15.8 in 2006, and 17.6 in 2008. The Gini indices for judo therapy facilities nationally were 0.273 in 2004, 0.264 in 2006, and 0.264 in 2008. The numbers of judo therapy facilities increased significantly between 2006 and 2008 (<it>p </it>< 0.05) but the indices did not change significantly in the same period. The Gini indices for local towns and villages remained unchanged and were consistently higher (<it>p </it>< 0.05) than those in urban areas throughout the study periods.</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>Our results suggest that recent increases in the number of judo therapy facilities have not necessarily led to greater equality in their geographic distribution in terms of Gini indices.</p

Comparative study of the membrane-permeabilizing activities of mastoparans and related histamine-releasing agents in bacteria, erythrocytes, and mast cells

The membrane-permeabilizing activities of mastoparans and related histamine-releasing agents were compared through measurements of K(+) efflux from bacteria, erythrocytes, and mast cells. Changes in bacterial cell viability, hemolysis, and histamine release, as well as in the shape of erythrocytes were also investigated. The compounds tested were mastoparans (HR1, a mastoparan from Polistes jadwagae, and a mastoparan from Vespula lewisii), granuliberin R, mast cell-degranulating peptide, and compound 48/80, as well as antimicrobial peptides, such as magainin I, magainin II, gramicidin S. and melittin. We used a K(+)-selective electrode to determine changes in the permeability to K(+) of the cytoplasmic membranes of cells. Consistent with the surface of mast cells becoming negatively charged during histamine release, due to the translocation of phosphatidylserine to the outer leaflet of the cytoplasmic membrane, histamine-releasing agents induced K(+) efflux from mast cells, dependent on their ability to increase the permeability of bacterial cytoplasmic membranes rich in negatively charged phospholipids. The present results demonstrated that amphiphilic peptides, possessing both histamine-releasing and antimicrobial capabilities, induced the permeabilization of the cytoplasmic membranes of not only bacteria but mast cells. Mastoparans increased the permeability of membranes in human erythrocytes at higher concentrations, and changed the normal discoid shape to a crenated form. The structural requirement for making the crenated form was determined using compound 48/80 and its constituents (monomer, dimer, and trimer), changing systematically the number of cationic charges of the molecules

Prehospital advanced airway management of emergency medical service-witnessed traumatic out-of-hospital cardiac arrest patients: analysis of nationwide trauma registry

Aim: Survival of traumatic out-of-hospital cardiac arrest (OHCA) is poor. Early use of advanced airway management (AAM) tech niques, including endotracheal intubation and supraglottic devices, are expected to contribute to the improved survival of these patients. The aim of this study was to determine whether prehospital use of AAM improves the outcomes for emergency medical service (EMS)-witnessed traumatic OHCA. Methods: A nationwide retrospective study was carried out. Trauma patients with EMS-witnessed cardiac arrest who received car diopulmonary resuscitation during transport were included. Patients younger than 16 years and those with missing data were excluded. We compared two groups using propensity score matching. The primary outcome was survival to discharge. The secondary outcome was return of spontaneous circulation (ROSC) on hospital arrival. A logistic regression model was used to calculate odds ratios (OR) and confidence intervals (CI). Results: After propensity score matching, 1,346 patients were enrolled (AAM 673 versus non-AAM 673). Forty-four AAM cases (6.5%) and 39 non-AAM cases (5.8%) survived. Logistic regression analysis did not show a contribution of AAM for survival to discharge (AAM 44/673 (6.5%), non-AAM 39/673 (5.8%); OR 1.12; 95% CI, 0.70-1.76; P = 0.64). However, AAM improved ROSC on admission (AAM 141/673 (21.0%), non-AAM 77/673 (11.4%); OR 2.05; 95% CI, 1.51-2.78; P < 0.001). This tendency was consistent throughout our subgroup analysis categorized by body region of the severe injury (head trauma, torso trauma, and extremity/spine trauma). Conclusions: Prehospital AAM among EMS-witnessed traumatic OHCA patients was not associated with survival to discharge; however, ROSC on hospital admission improved for the AAM patients

Simulation of tourists' wayfinding during evacuation based on experiments in Kyoto

24th EURO Working Group on Transportation Meeting, EWGT 2021, 8-10 September 2021, Aveiro, PortugalTourists are often more vulnerable than residents in sudden disaster situations due to lack of knowledge regarding evacuation routes and safe areas. To establish protocols and the schemes for tourist evacuation to safe areas, it is necessary to gather their likely behavior during an evacuation. Since there are few actual data available we conducted a VR (Virtual Reality) experiment assuming a sudden disaster situation and estimated tourists’ route choice based on the experiment. In the experiment pictures of intersection in the touristic Higashiyama area of Kyoto, Japan, where shown to participants and they could choose the direction they want to proceed until reaching an open space or designated shelter. As a result, we could quantify the impact of road width and, to some degree, network structure. The results reveal the tendency to select wide roads and to proceed straight. If the participants were put under time pressure these tendencies are intensified. Utilizing these results we constructed an evacuation simulation. We estimated the distribution and amount of tourists using data obtained from a mobile phone service provider. We conducted the simulation using VisWalk with various guidance situations and compared those results. The results illustrate potential capacity bottlenecks of designated shelter locations and the importance to provide route guidance and certain points in the network