Population Synthesis via k-Nearest Neighbor Crossover Kernel

The recent development of multi-agent simulations brings about a need for population synthesis. It is a task of reconstructing the entire population from a sampling survey of limited size (1% or so), supplying the initial conditions from which simulations begin. This paper presents a new kernel density estimator for this task. Our method is an analogue of the classical Breiman-Meisel-Purcell estimator, but employs novel techniques that harness the huge degree of freedom which is required to model high-dimensional nonlinearly correlated datasets: the crossover kernel, the k-nearest neighbor restriction of the kernel construction set and the bagging of kernels. The performance as a statistical estimator is examined through real and synthetic datasets. We provide an "optimization-free" parameter selection rule for our method, a theory of how our method works and a computational cost analysis. To demonstrate the usefulness as a population synthesizer, our method is applied to a household synthesis task for an urban micro-simulator.Comment: 10 pages, 4 figures, IEEE International Conference on Data Mining (ICDM) 201

UDFS in shoulder surgeries

The purpose of this study was to clarify the difference in onset timing and incidence of undiagnosed finger symptom (UDFS) between various shoulder surgical procedures. In this study, UDFS symptoms included the following four symptoms in the fingers ; edema, limited range-of-motion, skin color changes, and abnormal sensations. UDFS cases were defined as those presenting with at least one UDFS. In result, the incidence rate of UDFS cases was 7.1% overall (58 / 816 shoulders), 7.4% (32 / 432) in arthroscopic rotator cuff repair (ARCR), 9.0% (11 / 122) in open rotator cuff repair (ORCR), 1.4% (2 / 145) in arthroscopic subacromial decompression (ASD), 13.2% (5 / 38) in open reduction and internal fixation (ORIF), 11.1% (3 / 27) in humeral head replacement, 4.8% (1 / 21) in anatomical total shoulder arthroplasty, and 12.9% (4 / 31) in reverse total shoulder arthroplasty cases. The Rate was significantly higher with ARCR compared to ASD (p < .01). About onset timing in weeks postoperatively, the ORIF group had a statistically earlier symptom onset than the Rotator cuff repair (ARCR + ORCR) group (2.4 weeks vs. 6.0 weeks, p < .01). When classifying the onset timing into before and after the removal of the abduction pillow, the ORIF group showed a statistically higher rate of onset before brace removal than the Rotator cuff repair groups (p < .01). Differences in UDFS among shoulder surgeries were demonstrated in this study

Efficacy of the New Double-Layer Stent for Unresectable Distal Malignant Biliary Obstruction: A Single-Center Retrospective Study

Background and Aims. For distal malignant biliary obstruction in cases with short life expectancy, occlusion of plastic stents (PSs) does not usually occur before death, and the application of such a procedure is considered adequate from the viewpoint of cost-effectiveness. Methods and Setting. A new commercially available DLS with side holes, a conventional DLS, and, uncovered self-expanding metal stents (SEMSs) were retrospectively evaluated in patients with jaundice due to unresectable distal malignant biliary obstruction. Results. A total of 64 patients received endoscopic biliary stenting (23 patients with the new DLS, 24 patients with conventional DLS, and 17 patients with uncovered SEMS) from December 2002 to August 2009. Median patency time was found to be 198 days for the new DLS group and 99 days for the conventional DLS group, revealing a significant difference between devices. There was, however, no significant difference in median patency time between the new DLS and the uncovered SEMS (198 days versus 344 days). Conclusion. The new DLS is efficient and safe and may be considered the first choice for unresectable distal malignant obstruction in cases with short life expectancy

Observation of ultrabroadband striped space-time surface plasmon polaritons

Because surface plasmon polaritons (SPPs) are surface waves characterized by one free transverse dimension, the only monochromatic diffraction-free spatial profiles for SPPs are cosine and Airy waves. Pulsed SPP wave packets have been recently formulated that are propagation-invariant and localized in the in-plane dimensions by virtue of a tight spectral association between their spatial and temporal frequencies, which have thus been dubbed `space-time' (ST) SPPs. Because of the spatio-temporal spectral structure unique to ST-SPPs, the optimal launching strategy of such novel plasmonic field configurations remains an open question. We present here a critical step towards realizing ST-SPPs by reporting observations of ultrabroadband striped ST-SPPs. These are SPPs in which each wavelength travels at a prescribed angle with respect to the propagation axis to produce a periodic (striped) transverse spatial profile that is diffraction-free. We start with a free-space ST wave packet that is coupled to a ST-SPP at a gold-dielectric interface, and unambiguously identify the ST-SPP via an axial beating detected in two-photon fluorescence produced by the superposition of incident ST wave packet and the excited surface-bound ST-SPP. These results highlight a viable approach for efficient and reliable coupling to ST-SPPs, and thus represent the first crucial step towards realization of the full potential of ST-SPPs for plasmonic sensing and imaging.Comment: 9 pages, 8 figure

Potential demand for eco-museum excursions in Higashihiroshima City

エコミュージアムにおいて，地域に散在する遺産をどのように結びつけるかは1つの課題である。1つの解決策として，域内をめぐる見学ツアーを提供することが考えられる。本稿の目的は，東広島市で想定できるエコミュージアム・ツアーにどの程度の需要が見込めるのかを示すことである。そのために，広島県民へのウェブアンケート調査と，広島大学学生の意見調査を行った。ウェブアンケートからは，エコミュージアムに関心をもつ層が3分の1おり，ツアーへの参加希望は，「水と酒」をテーマとするものが56.0％，「生物と農村生活」で44.9％，「バイオマス関連」で40.3％，「伝説と歴史」で30.3％であることが示された。また，学生の意見としては，大学のある地域について知る機会を大事にしたい，日常的に自然に接する機会が少ないので提示された機会は貴重だと考える者がいる一方，参加費用面でそもそも無理だと判断する者がおり，両者はほぼ半々となった。見学ツアーに対して，広島大学総合博物館単独での実施能力を大きく上回る潜在的な需要があることが確認できた。Finding ways to connect scattered heritages in an eco-museum constitutes an issue. Solutions include providing excursions around the region. This article aims to demonstrate how much demand can be expected for the excursions of an eco-museum in Higashihiroshima City. To this end, an online questionnaire survey was administered to citizens of Hiroshima Prefecture, and an opinion survey of Hiroshima University students was conducted. According to the online survey, 56.0% of respondents were interested in participating in the excursion on the theme of “water and liquor”, and 44.9% were interested in the excursion regarding “wild living and rural life”. Further, 40.3% were interested in the “biomass-related” excursion and 30.3% were interested in the excursion on “local history and legends”. The opinions of university students were as follows. Almost half the students stated that the presented opportunities are valuable as they want to learn about the area surrounding the university and there are few opportunities to interact with nature in everyday life. Conversely, the other half of participants deemed the participation fee excessively high. The results confirmed that there is a potential demand for excursions, and that it exceeds the capacity that the museum can manage.ウェブアンケート調査について科学研究費（基盤研究（C），19K01186，代表：淺野敏久）を使用した

Development of a Super-Small Solid Rocket Motor for OMOTENASHI

Background of the OMOTENASHI Mission. To be launched by NASA’s SLS Artemis 1 in the early 2020s, OMOTENASHI will be one of the 13 CubeSats launched as secondary payloads. With a size of 6U (113×239×366 mm) and a mass of CubeSat, it is the world’s smallest moon lander. Aims to land on the moon

A Proposal for Analysis and Prediction for Software Projects using Collaborative Filtering, In-Process Measurements and a Benchmarks Database

PROCEEDINGS OF THE INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE ON SOFTWARE PROCESS AND PRODUCT MEASUREMENT(MENSURA 2006)CÁDIZ – SPAINNOVEMBER, 6 – 8, 2006Alain Abran Reiner Dumke Mercedes Ruiz (Eds.)刊行年月日は会議開催日を参考にし

Potential of the Angiotensin Receptor Blockers (ARBs) Telmisartan, Irbesartan, and Candesartan for Inhibiting the HMGB1/RAGE Axis in Prevention and Acute Treatment of Stroke

Abstract: Stroke is a major cause of mortality and disability worldwide. The main cause of stroke is atherosclerosis, and the most common risk factor for atherosclerosis is hypertension. Int. J. Mol. Sci. 2013, 14 18900 Therefore, antihypertensive treatments are recommended for the prevention of stroke. Thre