Search

Identifying the main factors influencing the land surface temperature (LST) of each local climate zone (LCZ) built type is of great significance for controlling LST. This study investigated the main factors influencing the LST of each LCZ built type in two Asian megacities: Tokyo and Shanghai. Each area in both megacities was classified according to the LCZ scheme. The diurnal LST, pervious surface fraction (PSF), surface albedo (SA), average building height ( 〈 B H 〉 ), and gross building coverage ratio (λp) of each LCZ were also calculated. Finally, the influence of the properties of each LCZ built type on LST was investigated. The results demonstrated that the main factors influencing LST of different LCZ built types differed in Tokyo and Shanghai. 〈 B H 〉 was the main factor influencing LST for compact mid-rise and open high-rise types in Tokyo, and the compact mid-rise type in Shanghai; PSF was the main factor influencing LST for other LCZ built types. Moreover, both 〈 B H 〉 and PSF negatively correlated with LST. Based on the above results and characteristics of each LCZ built type, specific LST mitigation strategies for each LCZ built type were proposed for Tokyo and Shanghai. The approach in this study can contribute to perspectives for urban planners and policymakers to develop highly feasible and reasonable LST mitigation strategies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Sea breezes are important in a coastal urban climate; however, the impact of urban development on the effects of sea breezes, which decrease air temperature and increase humidity, has not been understood quantitatively. To quantitatively evaluate this impact in Sendai, Japan over the past twenty years, this study analyzed the heat balance mechanisms in urban spaces based on the simulation results of the Weather Research and Forecasting (WRF) model coupled with Local Climate Zone (LCZ) maps. Compared to the observation data on air temperature, specific humidity, and wind in August 2002, results of the numerical simulation, using the 2002 LCZ map and the meteorological conditions of August 2002, confirmed that the WRF model could reproduce meteorological factors well. Thereafter, two numerical simulations using the LCZ maps from 2002 and 2022 were conducted based on the same meteorological condition, from 25 July to 1 September 2008, to extract the impact of urban development on the effects of sea breeze. Consequently, when land use changed from urban built-up land to natural land cover, both the effects of sea breeze—decreasing air temperature and increasing humidity—decreased. Additionally, increases in LCZ 3 (compact low rise), mainly from LCZ 6 (open low rise) and LCZ 9 (sparsely built), decreased the effects of sea breeze (decreasing air temperature and increasing humidity) by 5% and 10%, respectively, in areas around Sendai Station. This was because the consumption of the sea breeze's potential to decrease air temperature and increase humidity increased and the wind speed of sea breezes decreased in the windward areas of Sendai Station. These results provide new insights into the impact of urban development on the effects of sea breeze and quantitatively reveal changes in the effects of sea breeze. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

High-rise buildings cause accelerated winds around them. However, the interference effects of high-rise buildings on the surrounding low-rise buildings in urban blocks have not been evaluated. This study investigated the wind pressure coefficients on the roofs and walls of low-rise buildings surrounding a high-rise building through wind tunnel experiments. Seventy-two wind directions were considered from 0° to 355° in 5° increments, and the influence of the wind direction on the wind pressure coefficients of surrounding buildings was evaluated. At a 30° wind direction angle, the positive and negative peak wind pressure coefficients occurred in a low-rise building at the leeward side of the high-rise building. The positive peak pressure, approximately 1.4 times that without a nearby high-rise building, occurred at the windward corner on the front wall of a low-rise building. The negative peak value, approximately three times that without a nearby high-rise building, was observed at the windward edge on the roof of a low-rise building. Thus, accelerated winds caused by high-rise buildings may result in unexpected damage to the surrounding low-rise buildings. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Local Climate Zone (LCZ) scheme is an urban classification system which classifies urban areas into discrete local climates by morphological and land cover characteristics, proposed based on urban heat island researches in 1970s to 2000s. However, while the original scheme defines high‐rise buildings as areas higher than 25 m on average, buildings over 100 m have become more common in Asia since the 2000s. With the heterogeneity of urban areas, directly applying the original LCZ scheme to Asian cities has become difficult. Studies to incorporate the heterogeneity of urban morphology into the scheme have been conducted by researchers, although the increase in the number of taller buildings is not explored. This study proposes, LCZ categories and standards considering the super high‐rise buildings in Asian cities for a detailed categorization of urban morphology. For this, the urban morphological characteristics of Tokyo Metropolis, with a wide range of morphologies that exist in Asian cities, were analyzed. The proposal was made based on this analysis in relation to the thermal characteristics. Then, the characteristics of land surface temperature in each LCZ category were investigated in Shanghai and Xi'an, which indicated the applicability of the proposed categories to mid to large scale Asian cities. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

As the longest-serving Prime Minister so far, Abe Shinzo will be remembered for the unprecedented shifts he brought about in Japan's security policies, which will most likely have a lasting impact. From creating new institutions to fundamental changes in decision-making and from constructing a new framework for defense strategy and acquisition of offensive military capabilities to deftly managing the alliance with the US, Abe has left an indelible mark. He also came up with the Indo-Pacific construct and the Quad, which have become the key facets of regional security. Abe's initiatives are radical, but will they lead Japan to charter an equally new radical path? [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

There is considerable interest in the development of simple methods for quantifying production of the biodegradable polyester poly(3-hydroxybutyrate) [P(3HB)] by bacteria. Cells of Cupriavidus necator were grown on agar medium containing different concentrations of glucose (10–25 g/L) as a sole carbon source. Trace amounts (100±5 μg) of dried C. necator cells were directly subjected to thermally assisted hydrolysis and methylation-gas chromatography (THM-GC) in the presence of tetramethylammonium hydroxide (TMAH). On the resulting chromatograms, a series of characteristic peaks, attributed to the THM products from poly(3-hydroxybutylate) accumulated in the bacterial cells, were clearly observed without any interfering component. Based on the peak intensities, the contents of P(3HB) in C. necator were determined precisely and rapidly without using any cumbersome sample pretreatment. Furthermore, the values of the P(3HB) contents coincided overall with those obtained by the conventional method involving solvent extraction followed by gravimetric determination. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Although a loss of rotator cuff integrity leads to the superior migration of the humeral head, the parameters that characterize the anterolateral migration of the humeral head have not been established. The purpose of this study was to investigate the correlation between the translation of the humeral head scale (T-scale) and clinical outcomes of rotator cuff repair, as well as the correlation between the T-scale and radiologic parameters.Methods: One hundred thirty-five consecutive patients with full-thickness rotator cuff tears underwent primary rotator cuff repair. The T-scale, which indicates the distance from the center of the humeral head to the lateral coracoacromial arch, was measured on axial computed tomography scans, and the acromiohumeral interval (AHI) was measured radiographically. The correlation of the two parameters with the clinical scores of the Japanese Orthopaedic Association and University of California-Los Angeles scores and active forward elevation (FE) were evaluated at the preoperative and postoperative stages, respectively.Results: The postoperative T-scale and AHI correlated well with the postoperative FE and clinical scores in the patients with large-massive tears but not in those patients with small-medium tears and preoperative large-massive tears. A significant correlation was observed between the postoperative T-scale and AHI. The T-scale was subject to cuff repair integrity.Conclusions: We demonstrated that the postoperative T-scale was well correlated with the clinical results and postoperative AHI after rotator cuff repair for large-massive tears, indicating that poor outcomes are associated with combined superior and anterolateral migration of the humeral head following retears. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• Long-term MRT distribution around a building were predicted. • The back propagation neural network and genetic algorithms (GA-BPNN) was optimized. • GA-BPNN were proved as a stable and accurate one for long-term MRT prediction. • MAPE and RMSE of the optimized model were lower than 1% and 1°C. Urban warming has become increasingly serious in recent years. Especially in the case of hot summer days (with maximum daily temperature greater than 30°C), the number of people suffering from heat stroke increases every year. To mitigate urban warming and adapt to it, many researchers have focused on improving outdoor thermal comfort. The mean radiant temperature (MRT) is one of the most important variables affecting human thermal comfort in outdoor urban spaces; however, the process of MRT calculation requires a lot of computing power and time. The main objective of this study is the optimization of the back propagation and genetic algorithms on the basis of a multilayer neural network (MLNN), as an alternative to the time-consuming and computationally intensive process for quick MRT prediction. In this research work, a neural network was trained using the relevant weather-related and building morphology-related parameters that may affect the MRT from 2014-2018 as training parameters, the distributions of MRT around buildings in hot summer days of 2019 were predicted using an optimized neural network model. The results show that the mean absolute percentage error (MAPE) and root-mean-square error (RMSE) of the optimized model were lower than 1% and 1°C. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study was performed to investigate the enhanced antioxidant effects of citrus pomace (CP) extracts processed by super-heated steam (SHS). CP extracts were obtained using a closed SHS system at three different temperatures (100, 200, and 300 °C) with an extraction time of 10 or 20 min. These extracts were evaluated for their antioxidant activities by measuring their DPPH, alkyl, and hydroxyl radical scavenging activity using Electron Spin Resonance (ESR) spectroscopy and for their protective effects against H 2 O 2 -induced oxidative stress in Vero cells. All extracts exhibited strong radical scavenging activities and protective effects against H 2 O 2 -induced Vero cell damage. Especially, the SHS-CP extracts obtained at 300 °C with extraction times of both 10 min and 20 min exhibited antioxidant activities that were significantly higher than those of ethanol extracts and SHS-CP extracts obtained at other temperatures. The total phenolic and flavonoid contents of SHS-CP extracts and their antioxidant activities were found to be increased with elevated processing temperatures. Moreover, gas chromatography/mass spectrometry (GC/MS) in the presence of a methylating reagent revealed that some characteristic polyphenols and polyhydroxycyclohexanes were present in the SHS-CP extracts. Thus, this study demonstrated that SHS extraction is an efficient and environmentally friendly method for extracting antioxidants from CP. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Genipin was reacted with benzylamine and several amino acids to prepare gardenia blue (GB). The time-course of GB formation with benzylamine was monitored by high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC), liquid chromatography time-of-flight mass spectrometry (LC-TOFMS), and 1 H and 13 C NMR measurements. In this experiment, we determined the molecular structures of some intermediates using accurate masses and additional NMR techniques such as heteronuclear multiple bond correlation (HMBC). GBs with amino acids (GB-AAs) were characterized by both liquid and solid-state NMR measurements. Interestingly, many significant peaks appeared in the solid-state NMR spectra, although the 13 C NMR spectra from solution samples did not show any distinct peaks. Therefore, we determined that GB-AAs had an alternating copolymer structure composed of methyne and 5 H -2-pyrindine, which was substituted by amino acids at N atom and linked with methyne at 5 and 7 positions. To confirm this molecular structure, the pyrolysis gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC-MS) measurement of GB-AAs was carried out, and 5 H -2-pyrindine and its methyl derivatives were formed as main pyrolysis products from the polymer chains.

Potential risks of supply shortages for critical metals including rare-earth elements and yttrium (REY) have spurred great interest in commercial mining of deep-sea mineral resources. Deep-sea mud containing over 5,000 ppm total REY content was discovered in the western North Pacific Ocean near Minamitorishima Island, Japan, in 2013. This REY-rich mud has great potential as a rare-earth metal resource because of the enormous amount available and its advantageous mineralogical features. Here, we estimated the resource amount in REY-rich mud with Geographical Information System software and established a mineral processing procedure to greatly enhance its economic value. The resource amount was estimated to be 1.2 Mt of rare-earth oxide for the most promising area (105 km 2  × 0-10 mbsf), which accounts for 62, 47, 32, and 56 years of annual global demand for Y, Eu, Tb, and Dy, respectively. Moreover, using a hydrocyclone separator enabled us to recover selectively biogenic calcium phosphate grains, which have high REY content (up to 22,000 ppm) and constitute the coarser domain in the grain-size distribution. The enormous resource amount and the effectiveness of the mineral processing are strong indicators that this new REY resource could be exploited in the near future.

Background: Although a loss of rotator cuff integrity leads to the superior migration of the humeral head, the parameters that characterize the anterolateral migration of the humeral head have not been established. The purpose of this study was to investigate the correlation between the translation of the humeral head scale (T-scale) and clinical outcomes of rotator cuff repair, as well as the correlation between the T-scale and radiologic parameters., Methods: One hundred thirty-five consecutive patients with full-thickness rotator cuff tears underwent primary rotator cuff repair. The T-scale, which indicates the distance from the center of the humeral head to the lateral coracoacromial arch, was measured on axial computed tomography scans, and the acromiohumeral interval (AHI) was measured radiographically. The correlation of the two parameters with the clinical scores of the Japanese Orthopaedic Association and University of California-Los Angeles scores and active forward elevation (FE) were evaluated at the preoperative and postoperative stages, respectively., Results: The postoperative T-scale and AHI correlated well with the postoperative FE and clinical scores in the patients with large-massive tears but not in those patients with small-medium tears and preoperative large-massive tears. A significant correlation was observed between the postoperative T-scale and AHI. The T-scale was subject to cuff repair integrity., Conclusions: We demonstrated that the postoperative T-scale was well correlated with the clinical results and postoperative AHI after rotator cuff repair for large-massive tears, indicating that poor outcomes are associated with combined superior and anterolateral migration of the humeral head following retears.

Aim: To elucidate the factors associated with residual gastroesophageal reflux disease (GERD) symptoms in patients receiving proton pump inhibitor (PPI) maintenance therapy in clinical practice., Methods: The study included 39 GERD patients receiving maintenance PPI therapy. Residual symptoms were assessed using the Frequency Scale for Symptoms of GERD (FSSG) questionnaire and the Gastrointestinal Symptom Rating Scale (GSRS). The relationships between the FSSG score and patient background factors, including the CYP2C19 genotype, were analyzed., Results: The FSSG scores ranged from 1 to 28 points (median score: 7.5 points), and 19 patients (48.7%) had a score of 8 points or more. The patients' GSRS scores were significantly correlated with their FSSG scores (correlation coefficient = 0.47, P < 0.005). In erosive esophagitis patients, the FSSG scores of the CYP2C19 rapid metabolizers (RMs) were significantly higher than the scores of the poor metabolizers and intermediate metabolizers (total scores: 16.7 ± 8.6 vs 7.8 ± 5.4, P < 0.05; acid reflux-related symptom scores: 12 ± 1.9 vs 2.5 ± 0.8, P < 0.005). In contrast, the FSSG scores of the CYP2C19 RMs in the non-erosive reflux disease patients were significantly lower than those of the other patients (total scores: 5.5 ± 1.0 vs 11.8 ± 6.3, P < 0.05; dysmotility symptom-related scores: 1.0 ± 0.4 vs 6.0 ± 0.8, P < 0.01)., Conclusion: Approximately half of the GERD patients receiving maintenance PPI therapy had residual symptoms associated with a lower quality of life, and the CYP2C19 genotype appeared to be associated with these residual symptoms., Competing Interests: Conflict-of-interest statement: The authors declare that they have no conflicts of interest.