An Applicability of Aggregate and Disaggregate Estimations to Mode Choice by Inter-regional Occupational Person Trips

Diversion model and disaggregate behavioral model of logit type are adopted as aggregate and disaggregate estimates, respectively. Diversion model is assumed as a binary choice process including diversion ratio function at each step in the process. Diversion ratio is assumed as a function of generalized-travel-time ratio. The function is identified with each of the two steps of diversion; diverson from rail and bus to car at first and from the rest undiverted to bus at second. The data used are those on inter-regional occupational person trips. Each function are found enough and/or critically significant in the statistical sense. At the begginning, sixteen characteristics variables are enrolled in disaggregate model, which are identified by use of the above data. Six variables are reached finally and are all reasonable. A brief comparison of goodness of fit to the data are made between two models

An Applicability of Aggregate and Disaggregate Estimations to Mode Choice by Inter-regional Occupational Person Trips

Diversion model and disaggregate behavioral model of logit type are adopted as aggregate and disaggregate estimates, respectively. Diversion model is assumed as a binary choice process including diversion ratio function at each step in the process. Diversion ratio is assumed as a function of generalized-travel-time ratio. The function is identified with each of the two steps of diversion; diverson from rail and bus to car at first and from the rest undiverted to bus at second. The data used are those on inter-regional occupational person trips. Each function are found enough and/or critically significant in the statistical sense. At the begginning, sixteen characteristics variables are enrolled in disaggregate model, which are identified by use of the above data. Six variables are reached finally and are all reasonable. A brief comparison of goodness of fit to the data are made between two models

Online Dispute Resolution (ODR) and Japanese-Style Mediation

Just as Online Dispute Resolution is progressing in other countries around the world, the digitisation of Japanese-style mediation is also underway in Japan. The purpose of this article is to provide an overview of the ongoing digitalisation of Japanese-style mediation and to identify its challenges. In civil court proceedings, three distinct phases for the realisation of the system have been determined and are being systematically implemented. Mediation in domestic affairs is moving ahead to revise the system, and the realisation of its implementation is also in sight. The role of third parties in Japanese mediation differs significantly from that in Anglo-American law and elsewhere in that the role of the third party was more focused on the guardian role of the mediator than on the formation of an agreement between the parties. A characteristic feature of Japanese-style mediation is the emphasis on the role of the third-party guardian, who is the mediator. These characteristics of Japanese-style mediation are important factors to be taken into account when considering the digitalisation of mediation

Molecular Characterization of a Fully Human Chimeric T-Cell Antigen Receptor for Tumor-Associated Antigen EpCAM

The transduction of T cells to express chimeric T-cell antigen receptor (CAR) is an attractive strategy for adaptive immunotherapy for cancer, because the CAR can redirect the recognition specificity of T cells to tumor-associated antigens (TAAs) on the surface of target cells, thereby avoiding the limitations of HLA restriction. However, there are considerable problems with the clinical application of CAR, mostly due to its xenogeneic components, which could be immunogenic in humans. Moreover, while extensive studies on the CARs have been performed, the detailed molecular mechanisms underlying the activation of CAR-grafted T cells remain unclear. In order to eliminate potential immunogenicity and investigate the molecular basis of the CAR-mediated T-cell activation, we constructed a novel CAR (CAR57-28ζ) specific for one of the most important TAAs, epithelial cell adhesion molecule (EpCAM), using only human-derived genes. We revealed that in Jurkat T cells, lentivirally expressed CAR57-28ζ can transmit the T-cell-activating signals sufficient to induce IL-2 production upon EpCAM stimulation. An immunofluorescent analysis clearly showed that the CAR57-28ζ induces the formation of signaling clusters containing endogenous CD3ζ at the CAR/EpCAM interaction interface. These results suggest that this CAR gene may be safely and effectively applied for adaptive T-cell immunotherapy

Development of a system for the assessment of a dual-task performance based on a motion-capture device

The authors produced a dual task (DT) that provided a dynamic balance task and a cognitive task in a game system using motion sensors and virtual images. There had been no DT where a cognitive task needs a dynamic balance task that requires full-body motions. We developed and evaluated a game system to assess the performance of the DT. The DT was to solve a Sudoku puzzle using full-body motions like Tái Chi. An ability to perform a DT is intimately related to risk of falls. To evaluate the developed system, we compared the performance of elderly people and young people. Generally, elderly people are at a higher risk of falls. Twenty elderly community-dwelling adults (mean age, 73.0±6.2 years) and 16 young adults (mean age, 21.8±1.0 years) participated in this study. To compare the two groups, we applied an independent-samples t-test. The time taken for the elderly people was 60.6±43.2 s, whereas the time taken for the young people was 16.0±4.8 s. The difference is statistically significant (p<0.05). This result suggests that the developed game system is useful for the evaluation of the DT performance

Intraday Activity Levels May Better Reflect the Differences Between Major Depressive Disorder and Bipolar Disorder Than Average Daily Activity Levels

It is important to establish an objective index to differentiate mood disorders (i.e., bipolar disorder; BD and major depressive disorder; MDD). The present study focused on the pattern of changes of physical activity in the amount of activity intraday, and examined the relationship between activity patterns and mood disorders. One hundred and eighteen inpatients with MDD or BD in a depressive state provided the activity data by using wearable activity trackers for 3 weeks. In order to illuminate the characteristic patterns of intraday activities, Principal Component Analysis (PCA) was adopted to extract the main components of intraday activity changes. We found that some of the PCs reflected the differences between the types of mood disorder. BD participants showed high activity pattern in the morning and low activity pattern in evenings. However, MDD showed the opposite. Our results suggest that activity tracking focused on daytime activity patterns may provide objective auxiliary diagnostic information

Infiltration of T Lymphocytes and Expression of ICAM-1 in the Hippocampus of Patients with Hippocampal Sclerosis

We and others have previously shown that reactive microglia express the major histocompatibility complex (MHC) class I and class II antigens in the hippocampus of patients suffering from epilepsy. Although the MHC glycoproteins serve as restriction elements for T lymphocytes, there is little information available regarding T lymphocytes in hippocampal sclerosis. In the present study, we investigated T lymphocyte infiltration in human hippocampi in four cases of epilepsy with hippocampal sclerosis, as well as in four control cases without neurological disease. No CD8- or CD4-positive T lymphocytes were seen in hippocampi from the control cases. In contrast, CD8- and CD4-positive T lymphocytes had infiltrated into the hippocampi of patients with hippocampal sclerosis. In addition, expression of intercellular adhesion molecule-1 was diffusely upregulated in the hippocampi with hippocampal sclerosis. These results indicate that T lymphocyte infiltration is involved in the pathology of hippocampal sclerosis