Search

Conscious perception of a near‐threshold (NT) stimulus is characterized by the pre‐ and post‐stimulus brain state. However, the power of pre‐stimulus neural oscillations and strength of post‐stimulus cortical activity that lead to conscious perception have rarely been examined in individual cortical areas. This is because most previous electro‐ and magnetoencephalography (EEG and MEG, respectively) studies involved scalp‐ and sensor‐level analyses. Therefore, we recorded MEG during a continuous NT somatosensory stimulus detection task and applied the reconstructed source data in order to identify cortical areas where the post‐stimulus cortical activity and pre‐stimulus alpha oscillation predict the conscious perception of NT somatosensory stimuli. We found that the somatosensory hierarchical processing areas, prefrontal areas and cortical areas belonging to the default mode network showed stronger cortical activity for consciously perceived trials in the post‐stimulus period, but the cortical activity in primary somatosensory area (SI) is independent of conscious perception during the early stage of NT stimulus processing. In addition, we revealed that the pre‐stimulus alpha oscillation only in SI is predictive of conscious perception. These findings suggest that the bottom‐up stream of somatosensory information flow following SI and pre‐stimulus alpha activity fluctuation in SI as a top‐down modulation are crucial constituents of conscious perception., Higher‐order somatosensory‐related areas showed stronger activity for conscious perception followed by near‐threshold stimulus at pre‐stimulus stage. Early cortical activity in the primary somatosensory area was recorded independent of conscious perception. Pre‐stimulus alpha oscillation only in SI was predictive of conscious perception.

Objective With the aging of society, both osteoporosis and fatty liver disease (FLD) are becoming important issues. However, the relationship between osteoporosis and FLD remains controversial. We investigated the association between bone metabolism and FLD in a Japanese community in a cross-sectional study. Methods A total of 1,020 participants were enrolled in a health survey. FLD was diagnosed by ultrasonography. Bone metabolism was evaluated based on bone mineral density (BMD), which was assessed using dual-energy X-ray absorptiometry, and with the bone formation index (total type I procollagen N-terminal propeptide/bone-alkaline phosphatase ratio; P1NP/BAP ratio) and the bone resorption index (crosslinked N-telopeptide of type I collagen/tartrate-resistant acid phosphatase-5b ratio; NTx/TRACP-5b ratio) calculated from serum bone turnover markers. Results The BMD (percentage of the young adult mean) was the same level in both male and female participants with and without FLD. Both men and women showed an age-dependent decrease in their bone formation index and bone resorption index values. Men of ≥70 years of age and women of 60-69 years of age with FLD had significantly lower bone formation index values and higher bone resorption index values. However, similar findings were not seen in women of ≥70 years of age. Conclusion Although the BMD levels were the same, regardless of the presence or absence of FLD, elderly participants with FLD showed decreased bone formation and increased bone resorption, with sex differences. Because our results suggest that FLD in elderly individuals is detrimental for bone metabolism, and that it leads to bone loss and osteoporosis, further studies using a cohort population are warranted.

We evaluated the feasibility of using serum creatinine-to-cystatin C ratio in the assessments of muscle mass and strength in nonalcoholic fatty liver disease. In a community-based cross-sectional study, skeletal muscle mass and handgrip strength were assessed in 641 Japanese adults. Low skeletal muscle mass index and low handgrip strength were defined as indicated in the sarcopenia diagnostic criteria of the Japan Society of Hepatology. Nonalcoholic fatty liver disease was defined as fatty liver on ultrasonography in the absence of other causes of steatosis. The creatinine-to-cystatin C ratio was useful for identifying the participants with low skeletal muscle mass index, with an area under the receiver-operating characteristic curve of 0.84 [95% confidence interval (CI), 0.77-0.91] in men and 0.72 in women (95% CI, 0.65-0.78), and those with low handgrip strength, with an area under the receiver-operating characteristic curve of 0.96 (95% CI, 0.93-0.99) in men and 0.79 (95% CI, 0.66-0.92) in women. Moreover, the creatinine-to-cystatin C ratio correlated with skeletal muscle mass index (

Japan Nuclear Energy Safety Organization (JNES) has published an aggregate test method so-called as JNES flow (the method mainly composed of international methods RILEM AAR 3 and RILEM AAR 4) and alkali-silica reaction (ASR) diagnosis method.In this research, we conducted the RILEM methods using Japanese aggregates, which were international aggregate test methods that were considered to be highly reliable. Especially, we evaluated the suitability of various RILEM aggregate testing methods for Japanese aggregates with regard to methods for detecting reactivity of late expansive aggregates, which have been reported in recent years.Furthermore, for the ASR diagnostic method that emphasizes the petrological evaluation test after collecting concrete cores samples, various test specimens with different stages of deterioration were produced, and the core appearance observation and polarization microscope observation were performed on the collected core samples. We also conducted observations using a film scanner and evaluated the applicability of the proposed ASR diagnostic method to Japanese aggregates.Based on the above, an example of the alkali aggregate reaction test flow of concrete structures effective for reactive aggregates were proposed through comparison among various domestic and international aggregate test methods. Furthermore, an example of the alkali aggregate reaction diagnosis flow of concrete structures was proposed by conducting tests with several methods using cores which were sampled from the concrete specimens and the concrete structures.

Preschool Activity Card Sort (PACS) is a valid measure of preschoolers’ participation and is a useful and unique tool for focusing on the extent and frequency of their participation. However, given the cultural differences between Japan and other countries, researchers should consider these differences when adapting the PACS for use with children in Japan. The purpose of this study was to select culturally suitable activity items to develop the Japanese version of PACS (PACS-JPN). A two-round survey of parents (who had typically developing children aged between 3 and 6 years) was conducted. The final version of the PACS-JPN included 98 activity items. The PACS-JPN reflects Japanese sociocultural background and allows occupational therapists to assess preschoolers’ actual participation by assessing multiple aspects of children’s community life. The psychometric properties, including the validity and reliability of the PACS-JPN should be examined in future research.

The Activity Card Sort (ACS) can both record the clients’ participation and any changes, which is a useful tool for practitioners to establish tailored occupation-focused goals. However, there is a limitation to apply the ACS to Japanese older adults as it consists of culturally relevant activities in the United States. The aim of this study was to select activity items reflecting Japanese older adults’ lifestyles and opinions to develop the Activity Card Sort–Japan Version (ACS-JPN). In the item selection process, a two-round questionnaire survey was conducted for community-dwelling Japanese older adults (Round 1: n = 177, M age = 69.9 years; Round 2: n = 178, M age = 74.9 years). Seventy-two activity items were finally included in the ACS-JPN and were classified into four domains. The ACS-JPN has some unique features compared with other ACS versions. This study only selected activity items. Further work on psychometric properties is needed.

Aims: To quantitatively investigate the residents’ performed activities and the level of changes in these that took place after admission to a long-term care facility (LTCF) considering con...

The role of a shrinkage reducing agent (SRA) in the hardened cement paste during a first desorption process was investigated by measuring the small-angle X-ray scattering (SAXS). Fractal disc analysis and Guinier approximation were adopted to interpret the SAXS profiles. We experimentally confirmed that the presence of SRA molecules mitigated the piling of calcium-silicate hydrate (C-S-H) sheets, which could be monitored by the increase in the thickness of the disc, representing the agglomeration of C-S-H sheets. In addition, the basal spacing of C-S-H did not change during the drying. By contrast, the diameter of the discs monotonically decreased and showed a similar trend to that of samples lacking SRA. Based on these findings, we concluded that SRA molecules were on the surface of the C-S-H sheets and mitigated the piling, facilitating water removal from the C-S-H agglomeration in the RH range of 80–40%.

Simple hepatic cysts are common and most often asymptomatic. In symptomatic cases, hemorrhage, rupture, and infection are major complications. However, urinary tract obstruction caused by a simple hepatic cyst is rare. We treated an 82-year-old Japanese man with an infected giant hepatic cyst causing right hydronephrosis who had a past history of left nephrectomy for renal cell carcinoma. The patient underwent ultrasound-guided percutaneous drainage and sclerotherapy with minocycline hydrochloride for the infected hepatic cyst. Right hydronephrosis was relieved, and renal dysfunction improved with regression of the hepatic cyst after treatment. This is the first report of hydronephrosis due to ureteral obstruction caused by compression from a hepatic cyst.

Meso- and micro-scale structural changes in matured hardened cement paste dried slowly for 1.5 years at different relative humidities (RHs) are evaluated by small-angle X-ray scattering profiles covering a q range of 0.017 nm − 1 –30 nm − 1 with a fractal disc-shaped particle analysis and Guinier approximation. The fractal disc-shaped particle analysis revealed that calcium–silicate–hydrate (C–S–H) agglomerations are very thin (~ 2.5 nm) and of relatively large width (~ 35 nm) under high RH conditions. However, the agglomerations are segmented (in width) into ~ 10 nm below an RH of 40%. The Guinier approximation found the possibility that the scattering profiles in the range of 2 nm − 1 –8 nm − 1 correspond to a spacing between C–S–H monolayers and it showed stepwise changes at 40%–50% RH. The stepwise behavior of the distance between C–S–H monolayers may explain a kink in water vapor desorption at around 40% RH.

Overlap syndrome between primary sclerosing cholangitis (PSC) and autoimmune hepatitis (AIH) is extremely rare in Japan. We herein report two adult patients with PSC-AIH overlap syndrome. They were diagnosed with PSC-AIH overlap syndrome based on the findings of endoscopic retrograde cholangiography and liver biopsy, and using the International Autoimmune Hepatitis Group scoring system. In both cases, PSC preceded AIH, and combination therapy with steroid and ursodeoxycholic acid was effective. Because there are few reported cases in Japan, it is important to study more cases to shed light on the clinical and pathological features of PSC-AIH overlap syndrome.

Ultra-High Performance Fibre-Reinforced Cementitious Composites (UHP-FRCC) show excellent mechanical performances in terms of strength, ductility, and durability. Therefore, these cementitious materials have been successfully used for repairing, strengthening, and seismic retrofitting of old structures. However, UHP-FRCCs are not always environmental friendly products, especially in terms of the initial cost, due to the large quantity of cement that is contained in the mixture. Different rates of fly ash substitute herein part of the cement, and the new UHP-FRCCs are used to retrofit concrete columns to overcome this problem. To simulate the mechanical response of these columns, cylindrical specimens, which are made of normal concrete and reinforced with different UHP-FRCC jackets, are tested in uniaxial compression. Relationships between the size of the jacket, the percentage of cement replaced by fly ash, and the strength of the columns are measured and analyzed by means of the eco-mechanical approach. As a result, a replacement of approximately 50% of cement with fly ash, and a suitable thickness of the UHP-FRCC jacket, might ensure the lowest environmental impact without compromising the mechanical performances.

Background and aims Cardiovascular disease (CVD) is a leading cause of mortality in nonalcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD). The aim of this study was to investigate the relationship of leptin-to-adiponectin (L/A) ratio with hepatic steatosis and arterial stiffness in NAFLD. Methods The subjects were 871 Japanese adults who participated in a health survey. Dietary intake, body composition, lipid profile, serum interleukin-6 (IL-6), leptin, and adiponectin were analyzed. NAFLD was defined as fatty liver on ultrasonography in the absence of other causes of steatosis. Arterial stiffness was evaluated by the brachial-ankle pulse wave velocity (baPWV). Results The subjects with NAFLD had a greater body mass index (BMI) and body fat percentage (BFP); a higher intake of daily energy (kcal) and carbohydrates; and a higher prevalence of hypertension, diabetes, and hyperlipidemia. The subjects with NAFLD had higher serum leptin and lower serum adiponectin concentrations and a higher L/A ratio than subjects without NAFLD. The L/A ratio increased with increasing severity of steatosis. The L/A ratio showed positive correlations with BMI and BFP, and a negative correlation with age. Women had higher L/A ratio and BFP levels than men regardless of the presence or absence of NAFLD. There was a weak positive correlation between baPWV and severity of steatosis. BaPWV was strongly correlated with age, while no relation was found between baPWV and L/A ratio. IL-6 level was correlated with baPVW and age, while the correlation between Il and 6 level and L/A ratio was very weak. The L/A ratio was correlated with triglycerides and the ratio of total cholesterol to high-density lipoprotein-cholesterol. Conclusion L/A ratio and arterial stiffness were associated with the severity of steatosis, whereas there was no correlation between L/A ratio and arterial stiffness in NAFLD. These findings suggest that not only leptin and adiponectin but also other factors might be involved in the pathogenesis for atherosclerosis in NAFLD.

A 73-year-old woman with massive ascites associated with a giant hepatic mass accompanied by arterio-portal (AP) shunt was admitted to our hospital. Based on contrast-enhanced computed tomography (CT) and angiography findings, hepatic hemangioma with AP shunt and ascites due to portal hypertension was diagnosed. Transcatheter arterial embolization (TAE) by N-butyl-2-cyanoacrylate (NBCA) was performed without complications. The patient's ascites disappeared, and her liver function test results improved after the treatment. The patient has maintained a steady state for two years. This case indicates that TAE with NBCA is a safe and effective treatment for hepatic hemangioma accompanied by AP shunt.

Background/Aim: Hyaluronan (HA) is used as a biomarker of liver fibrosis, which is a key risk factor for the development of hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). We examined the effects of prolonged pharmacological inhibition of HA synthesis on liver carcinogenesis. Materials and Methods: Liver tumors were induced in mice by administering 0.03% thioacetamide (TAA) in drinking water over a 12-month period. Animals simultaneously received either a diet containing of an inhibitor of HA synthesis [4-methylumbelliferone (4-MU)], or a control diet. Results: Addition of 4-MU resulted in a significantly higher number of tumors compared to TAA treatment alone. Moreover, addition of 4-MU resulted in a dose-dependent increase in maximum tumor size. Conclusion: While local HA suppression has been shown to have an inhibitory effect on HCC in vitro and in tumor cell implantation experiments, the present results indicate that systemic inhibition of HA synthesis by 4-MU supplementation facilitates hepatic carcinogenesis in vivo.

A method for predicting volume changes of aggregate during variations in humidity and temperature was studied. Siliceous rock aggregates commercially available in Japan were sampled from various regions and subjected to XRD (X-ray diffraction) analysis, thermal analysis, and volume change experiments. Drying shrinkage strain and the thermal expansion coefficient of the aggregates were found to be related to their mineral composition and bound water content. Experiments confirmed that drying shrinkage was correlated with the chlorite and bound water content of the aggregate, and that thermal expansion coefficients were correlated with the aggregate’s quartz content.

Although children are frequently required to sit upright, it is often difficult to maintain this posture when performing cognitive tasks. Information about the relationship between a cognitive tasks and postural seating control is important for children to complete tasks more effectively. To determine the muscle activity and body sway of children in a seated posture while performing a cognitive task, changes in muscle activity and center of pressure (COP) were recorded while 4(th) grade children performed arithmetic tasks. Electromyography was recorded from the internal oblique and lumbar multifidus muscles, and the COP was recorded using a baropodometer placed on the stool. These variables were measured during easy (EA) and difficult (DA) arithmetic tasks. EMG activity decreased during the EA and DA tasks, while the COP was displaced in the DA task. The results of the arithmetic tasks were not related to the EMG or COP changes. Attention to maintain a seated posture may be reduced when children perform cognitive tasks. Therefore, it may be better to allow children to alter their posture especially when they are performing difficult tasks. In this research, we only used arithmetic tasks as the cognitive exercise, and therefore, other types of tasks should be examined.

Understanding changes in the strength and Young's modulus of concrete under long-term drying or heating less than or equal to 90 °C is crucial for managing the aging of industrial buildings. We collected experimental data on changes in the physical properties of concrete components, aggregates, cement pastes, and concretes containing different aggregates and mortar under different heating and drying conditions. The change in compressive strength of concretes under various drying or heating conditions was explained by the behavior of the cement paste matrix and damage accumulation caused by differences in volume changes between the aggregate and mortar. In contrast, the variation in the Young's modulus of concrete caused by the drying or heating conditions was mainly explained by the increase in the number of voids due to internal cracking in the concrete.

Ultra High Performance – Fiber Reinforced Cementitious Composites (UHP-FRCC) has successfully developed in the last decades. They show excellent mechanical properties and durability, due to the highly dense microstructure produced by extremely low water/binder ratio and large amounts of cement. Thus, replacing part of the cement content with High Volume Fly Ash (HVFA) could be an effective way to improve also the ecological properties of UHP-FRCC. Indeed, most of the carbon footprint of cement-based composites is caused by the CO2 production of cement manufacturing. On the other hand, HVFA tends to reduce the mechanical properties of UHP-FRCC, especially at the early age. To evaluate the effect of some cement replacement (20, 50 and 70% by weight), a series of uniaxial compression and tensile tests have been performed and described in this paper. At the same time, through the Eco-Mechanical Index (EMI), ecological performances are evaluated on the basis of the measured mechanical properties. As a result, the application of UHP-FRCC in full-scale structures (e.g., composite concrete columns) is really convenient in the presence of HVFA, although the material properties (the compressive strength, in particular) show an opposite trend.

Ultra-high-performance fiber-reinforced cementitious composite (UHP-FRCC) has been successfully developed over the last decade. UHP-FRCC shows very high strength and high durability because of its very low water binder ratio and dense microstructures. Moreover, by incorporating a combination of steel and mineral fibers with different sizes in the mixture design, UHP-FRCC also exhibits high ductility and high energy absorption capacity, even under uniaxial tensile stress. The high ductility of UHP-FRCC materials shows strain hardening behavior with multiple cracking after the occurrence of the first crack. While extensive research on the tensile and bending behavior of this composite under short-term loading is reported, only limited results can be found on time-dependent behavior of UHP-FRCC under sustained long-term loading, which is strongly related to the situation of real structures. This paper presents experimental results concerning the time-dependent behavior of cracked UHP-FRCC specimens under sustained bending load. In bending creep test, sustained load with 50 % of the pre-cracking load was applied to a pair of prismatic specimens of 50 × 100 × 400 mm under a 4-point bending setup. The performance of UHP-FRCC is compared with those of conventional fiber reinforced cementitious composites (FRCC) using steel and synthetic fibers, which are investigated within the Round Robin Test (RRT) organized by RILEM TC 261-CCF. The results showed that UHP-FRCC exhibited smaller creep deformation at the sustained loading condition than the conventional FRCC, even when the initial deformation of the UHP-FRCC is much larger than the conventional FRCC. Cracking pattern, in terms of crack width and number of cracks, was also studied in both composites under sustained loads. As a result, the superior resistance of UHP-FRCC was obtained with respect to conventional FRCC.

The body of data about the reaction kinetics of cement has greatly grown in recent years, and in terms of techniques for the prediction of the resulting hydrate formation phases, databases contributing to thermodynamic equilibrium calculations have been developed and are growing increasingly sophisticated. On the other hand, though many studies on cement aim to contribute to concrete engineering and numerical model researchers have pointed out the necessity of shedding light on the relationship between the microstructures generated by hydration and physical properties, such data remains scarce. This study investigated Portland cements using two commonly used water-cement ratios and three types of mineral compositions in the material age range of up to one year. The phase composition in relation to cement hydration was determined by X-ray powder diffraction and Rietveld analysis. In terms of physical properties, compressive strength and Young's modulus were measured through loading tests, and Young's modulus and Poisson's ratio were also obtained from the ultrasonic pulse propagation velocity of longitudinal and transverse waves. Further, water vapor adsorption tests to shed light on moisture behavior were conducted, yielding the BET specific surface area. Thermal conductivity, an im- portant determinant of thermal behavior, was measured using the transient hot wire method. On the premise of the ap- plication of these physical properties to numerical calculations, their correlation with the information obtained from the phase composition was considered, leading to the proposal of simple and relatively high-accuracy empirical formulas. Further, background information about raising the correlation of these empirical formulas was also discussed.