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Background & Aims: Epithelial disruption in eosinophilic esophagitis (EoE) encompasses both impaired differentiation and diminished barrier integrity. We have shown that lysyl oxidase (LOX), a collagen cross-linking enzyme, is up-regulated in the esophageal epithelium in EoE. However, the functional roles of LOX in the esophageal epithelium remains unknown. Methods: We investigated roles for LOX in the human esophageal epithelium using 3-dimensional organoid and air–liquid interface cultures stimulated with interleukin (IL)13 to recapitulate the EoE inflammatory milieu, followed by single-cell RNA sequencing, quantitative reverse-transcription polymerase chain reaction, Western blot, histology, and functional analyses of barrier integrity. Results: Single-cell RNA sequencing analysis on patient-derived organoids revealed that LOX was induced by IL13 in differentiated cells. LOX-overexpressing organoids showed suppressed basal and up-regulated differentiation markers. In addition, LOX overexpression enhanced junctional protein genes and transepithelial electrical resistance. LOX overexpression restored the impaired differentiation and barrier function, including in the setting of IL13 stimulation. Transcriptome analyses on LOX-overexpressing organoids identified an enriched bone morphogenetic protein (BMP) signaling pathway compared with wild-type organoids. In particular, LOX overexpression increased BMP2 and decreased the BMP antagonist follistatin. Finally, we found that BMP2 treatment restored the balance of basal and differentiated cells. Conclusions: Our data support a model whereby LOX exhibits noncanonical roles as a signaling molecule important for epithelial homeostasis in the setting of inflammation via activation of the BMP pathway in the esophagus. The LOX/BMP axis may be integral in esophageal epithelial differentiation and a promising target for future therapies.

Abstract Chronic inflammation promotes epigenetic reprogramming in cancer progression by pathways that remain unclear. The oncogenic MUC1-C protein is activated by the inflammatory NF-κB pathway in cancer cells. There is no known involvement of MUC1-C in regulation of the COMPASS family of H3K4 methyltransferases. We find that MUC1-C regulates (i) bulk H3K4 methylation levels, and (ii) the COMPASS SET1A/SETD1A and WDR5 genes by an NF-κB-mediated mechanism. The importance of MUC1-C in regulating the SET1A COMPASS complex is supported by the demonstration that MUC1-C and WDR5 drive expression of FOS, ATF3 and other AP-1 family members. In a feedforward loop, MUC1-C, WDR5 and AP-1 contribute to activation of genes encoding TRAF1, RELB and other effectors in the chronic NF-κB inflammatory response. We also show that MUC1-C, NF-κB, WDR5 and AP-1 are necessary for expression of the (i) KLF4 master regulator of the pluripotency network and (ii) NOTCH1 effector of stemness. In this way, MUC1-C/NF-κB complexes recruit SET1A/WDR5 and AP-1 to enhancer-like signatures in the KLF4 and NOTCH1 genes with increases in H3K4me3 levels, chromatin accessibility and transcription. These findings indicate that MUC1-C regulates the SET1A COMPASS complex and the induction of genes that integrate NF-κB-mediated chronic inflammation with cancer progression.

Abstract Accurate point-of-care testing (POCT) is critical for managing tuberculosis (TB). However, current antibody-based diagnosis shows low specificity and sensitivity. To find proper antigen candidates for TB diagnosis by antibodies, we assessed IgGs responsiveness to Mycobacterium tuberculosis proteins in pulmonary TB (PTB) patients. We employed major secreted proteins, such as Rv1860, Ag85C, PstS1, Rv2878c, Ag85B, and Rv1926c that were directly purified from M. tuberculosis. In the first screening, we found that IgG levels were significantly elevated in PTB patients only against Rv1860, PstS1, and Ag85B among tested antigens. However, recombinant PstS1 and Ag85B from Escherichia coli (E. coli) couldn’t distinguish PTB patients and healthy controls (HC). Recombinant Rv1860 was not checked due to its little expression. Then, the 59 confirmed PTB patients from Soetomo General Academic Hospital, Surabaya, Indonesia, and 102 HC were tested to Rv1860 and Ag85B only due to the low yield of the PstS1 from M. tuberculosis. The ROC analysis using native Ag85B and Rv1860 showed an acceptable area under curve for diagnosis, which is 0.812 (95% CI 0.734–0.890, p

In a parallel-motion-type eddy current damper comprising a magnet and conducting plate, the magnet is assumed stationary, and the conductor moves parallel to the xy-plane of a static coordinate system O-xyz. In a previous study, we proved that when an arbitrarily dimensioned rectangular magnet and conductor are symmetrically positioned along both the x- and y- axes at an instant, the condition that “the gradient of scalar potential is zero” (GSPZ condition) is established throughout the conductor in a stationary-conductor coordinate system. For an eddy current damper comprising a ring magnet and conducting disk, the equations of the magnetic vector potential and scalar potential are different from those for an eddy current damper comprising a rectangular magnet and conductor. In this study, we verified whether the GSPZ condition can be applied to an eddy current damper comprising a ring magnet and conducting disk. First, using the three-dimensional finite element method (3D-FEM), we analyzed the eddy current distribution in an eddy current damper comprising a single ring magnet and conducting disk, and we found that the GSPZ condition is valid for an arbitrary diameter of the conducting disk. Second, we verified that the GSPZ condition can be applied to an eddy current damper comprising a combination of ring magnets with oppositely aligned magnetic poles and two conducting disks with arbitrary diameters. Third, we calculated the magnetic damping forces of both eddy current dampers using Fleming’s left-hand rule under the GSPZ condition (GSPZ-A method), and the results were in good agreement with those obtained using the 3D-FEM.

Background/Aims Image-enhanced endoscopy can detect superficial oro-hypopharyngeal squamous cell carcinoma; however, reliable endoscopy of the pharyngeal region is challenging. Endoscopy under general anesthesia during transoral surgery occasionally reveals multiple synchronous lesions that remained undetected on preoperative endoscopy. Therefore, we aimed to determine the lesion detection capability of endoscopy under general anesthesia for superficial oro-hypopharyngeal squamous cell carcinoma. Methods This retrospective study included 63 patients who underwent transoral surgery for superficial oropharyngeal squamous cell carcinoma between April 2005 and December 2020. The primary endpoint was to compare the lesion detection capabilities of preoperative endoscopy and endoscopy under general anesthesia. Other endpoints included the comparison of clinicopathological findings between lesions detected using preoperative endoscopy and those newly detected using endoscopy under general anesthesia. Results Fifty-eight patients (85 lesions) were analyzed. The mean number of lesions per patient detected was 1.17 for preoperative endoscopy and 1.47 for endoscopy under general anesthesia. Endoscopy under general anesthesia helped detect more lesions than preoperative endoscopy did (p

Abstract Tuberculosis (TB) is fatal in elephants, hence protecting elephants from TB is key not only in the conservation of this endangered animal, but also to prevent TB transmission from elephants to humans. Most human TB cases arise from long-term asymptomatic infections. Significant diagnostic challenges remain in the detection of both infection and disease development from latency in elephants due to their huge bodies. In this study, we assessed cryopreserved sera collected for over 16 years, from the first Japanese treatment case of elephant TB. Semi-quantification of IgG levels to 11 proteins showed high detection levels of 3 proteins, namely ESAT6/CFP10, MPB83 and Ag85B. The level of IgG specific to these 3 antigens was measured longitudinally, revealing high and stable ESAT6/CFP10 IgG levels regardless of onset or treatment. Ag85B-specifc IgG levels were largely responsive to onset or treatment, while those of MPB83 showed intermediate responses. These results suggest that ESAT6/CFP10 is immunodominant in both asymptomatic and symptomatic phases, making it useful in the detection of infection. On the other hand, Ag85B has the potential to be a marker for the prediction of disease onset and in the evaluation of treatment effectiveness in elephants.

Background The MUC1-C protein evolved in mammals to protect barrier tissues from loss of homeostasis; however, MUC1-C promotes oncogenesis in association with chronic inflammation. Aberrant expression of MUC1-C in cancers has been linked to depletion and dysfunction of T cells in the tumor microenvironment. In contrast, there is no known involvement of MUC1-C in the regulation of natural killer (NK) cell function.Methods Targeting MUC1-C genetically and pharmacologically in cancer cells was performed to assess effects on intracellular and cell surface expression of the MHC class I chain-related polypeptide A (MICA) and MICB ligands. The MICA/B promoters were analyzed for H3K27 and DNA methylation. Shedding of MICA/B was determined by ELISA. MUC1-C interactions with ERp5 and RAB27A were assessed by coimmunoprecipitation and direct binding studies. Exosomes were isolated for analysis of secretion. Purified NK cells were assayed for killing of cancer cell targets.Results Our studies demonstrate that MUC1-C represses expression of the MICA and MICB ligands that activate the NK group 2D receptor. We show that the inflammatory MUC1-C→NF-κB pathway drives enhancer of zeste homolog 2-mediated and DNMT-mediated methylation of the MICA and MICB promoter regions. Targeting MUC1-C genetically and pharmacologically with the GO-203 inhibitor induced intracellular and cell surface MICA/B expression but not MICA/B cleavage. Mechanistically, MUC1-C regulates the ERp5 thiol oxidoreductase that is necessary for MICA/B protease digestion and shedding. In addition, MUC1-C interacts with the RAB27A protein, which is required for exosome formation and secretion. As a result, targeting MUC1-C markedly inhibited secretion of exosomes expressing MICA/B. In concert with these results, we show that targeting MUC1-C promotes NK cell-mediated killing.Conclusions These findings uncover pleotropic mechanisms by which MUC1-C confers evasion of cancer cells to NK cell recognition and destruction.

Eddy currents in a conductor moving in a non-uniform magnetic field in a static coordinate system are expressed as the superposition of the term by the partial derivative of the magnetic vector potential with respect to time and by the gradient of scalar potential in a stationary-conductor coordinate system. In this study, we proposed the general equation of “gradient of scalar potential is zero” condition (GSPZ condition) throughout the conductor. Additionally, under satisfying the GSPZ condition, we propose the method of obtaining the magnetic damping force from both the magnetic flux densities and the eddy currents calculated using the Biot-Savart law and Fleming's left-hand rule for the parallel-motion-type eddy current damper (GSPZ-A method). The precision of the GSPZ-A method is similar to that of the three-dimensional finite element method (3D-FEM); however, the effect of the secondary magnetic field was not considered. In this study, the GSPZ condition for the parallel-motion-type eddy current damper of a rectangular magnet and conductor of arbitrary dimensions was established. Furthermore, the GSPZ condition was applied to two types of eddy current dampers—one composed of the single square magnet and the other of the combined square magnet with oppositely aligned magnetic poles. The magnetic damping forces calculated using the GSPZ-A method were compared with those obtained from the 3D-FEM and experiments. As a result, the errors from the GSPZ-A method to 3D-FEM for the single and combined magnets were 10 and 0.4 %, respectively.

Abstract Epithelial–mesenchymal transition (EMT) is a drastic phenotypic change during cancer metastasis and is one of the most important hallmarks of aggressive cancer. Although the overexpression of some specific transcription factors explains the functional alteration of EMT-induced cells, a complete picture of this biological process is yet to be elucidated. To comprehensively profile EMT-related genes in colorectal cancer, we quantified the EMT induction ability of each gene according to its similarity to the cancer stromal gene signature and termed it “mesenchymal score.” This bioinformatic approach successfully identified 90 candidate EMT mediators, which are strongly predictive of survival in clinical samples. Among these candidates, we discovered that the neuronal gene ARC, possibly originating from the retrotransposon, unexpectedly plays a crucial role in EMT induction. Profiling of novel EMT mediators we demonstrated here may help understand the complexity of the EMT program and open up new avenues for therapeutic intervention in colorectal cancer.

Abstract Aim Many inflammation‐nutrition scores, including the Glasgow Prognostic Score (GPS), have been reported as prognostic biomarkers in patients with colorectal cancer (CRC). We aimed to examine the predictive ability of the GPS and to improve the GPS. Methods We included a total of 438 patients with stage 0‐III CRC who underwent curative surgery from 2010 to 2013. They were divided into a training set comprising 221 patients and a validation set comprising 227 patients, according to the date of surgery. In the training set, the GPS was verified using a Cox regression model, and cut‐off values for C‐reactive protein (CRP) and albumin for relapse‐free survival (RFS) were calculated using receiver operating characteristics (ROC) curves. The improved GPS (iGPS) was developed with additional optimal cut‐off values. We also compared the iGPS with the conventional GPS in the validation set. Results The high GPS (GPS: 1‐2) was correlated with RFS and overall survival (OS) in the training set. Cut‐off values of CRP and albumin for RFS were 1.6 and 3.9, and we modified the GPS accordingly, adding the cut‐off values of 2 and 3.9 to CRP and albumin, respectively. In the validation set, a high iGPS was an independent prognostic factor for RFS (hazard ratio [HR]: 2.273; 95% confidence interval [CI]: 1.212‐4.364; P = .011), although the conventional GPS was not. Conclusion The iGPS was a more accurate prognostic predictor for patients with stage 0‐III CRC.

NH3 selective catalytic reduction is an important technique for NOx removal but water vapor critically inhibits the reaction at a low temperature. Here the authors show bulk W-substituted VOx exhibits higher NOx removal ability than the TiO2 supported vanadia catalyst in the presence of water.

Parametric speaker can radiate an audible sound beam with sharp directivity by using the nonlinear interaction of ultrasonic waves. In recent years, the highly directional audible sound generated by the parametric speaker has been applied to various applications. For example, applications such as active noise control, sound absorption coefficient measurement, and creation of audio spots have been proposed. Numerical analysis of nonlinear sound field is important in application design. Many discrete analyses by using finite difference time domain method have been proposed as analysis methods for parametric speakers, but these methods have problem that the calculation load is heavy. Therefore, there is a need for efficient analysis methods for parametric speakers. In this study, we construct a steady-state response analysis method that can efficiently analyze the audible sound of parametric speakers. The method is combined a nonlinear concentrated mass model and a perturbation method. In addition, the computational load of the constructed model can be reduced by combining the substructure synthesis method. The proposed method is suitable for analysis of parametric speakers because the number of divisions in the axial direction can be set very large. The validity is confirmed by comparing the analysis result of the proposed method with the solution of the KZK equation. In addition, the improvement in calculation efficiency by the substructure synthesis method has been confirmed by numerical calculation.

Nutritional foods are concentrated sources of molecules with a nutritional or physiological effect which contain nutrients. There is a category, “nutricosmetics”, defined as ingestible natural health products that enhance the function and appearance of human skin, nails, and hair. A new variety of Flammulina velutipes (F. velutipes), Oki-Shirayuki 919, was explored to ascertain whether its components have functions of nutricosmetics. We focused on physiological effects for enhancing the human skin condition, such as moisturizing or barrier functions in F. velutipes. A randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled clinical study was performed between January and March 2022. Among healthy men and women (n = 30) aged 20 to 59 years, the test group (n = 15) took a test product which included F. velutipes dry powder, and the placebo group (n = 15) took a placebo (a similar product in which the F. velutipes dry powder was replaced with plum fruit paste). Since the amount of increase in skin hydration over four weeks in the test group was significantly larger than that in the placebo group, a significant difference between the two groups was observed (p = 0.033). F. velutipe was suggested to have some physiological functions such as improving skin moisture.

Objectives: It has been reported that there is an association between the nutritional condition and the prognosis of cancer. Here, we evaluated the relation between the prognostic nutritional index (PNI) and colorectal cancer (CRC). Methods: A total of 184 patients with CRC who underwent curative surgery from October 2011 to December 2012 at the Osaka University Hospital were investigated. According to the median PNI value of our data set, patients were classified into a high-PNI (46) group and a low-PNI (

Objective: This study was performed to evaluate the application of fetal middle cerebral artery peak systolic velocity (MCA-PSV) for prediction of newborn anemia with umbilical cord blood hemoglobin concentration at birth (UCB-Hb) 1.5 was defined as a positive MCA-PSV test result. Results: The MCA-PSV test was applied 2309 times (313 and 1996 times during second and third trimesters, respectively) in 699 women. The results were positive in 4.4% (102/2309) of tests and at least once in 9.9% (69/699) of women. Anemic infants were born to one (1.4%) and six (1.0%) of 69 and 630 women with and without at least one positive test result, respectively. MoM determined 4, 3, and 2 weeks before birth showed significant weak negative correlations with UCB-Hb at birth (correlation coefficient: 0.298–0.325). Conclusions: Among unselected women giving birth at or near term, the MCA-PSV test was unsatisfactory for prediction of newborn anemia in this retrospective observational study. Keywords: Antenatal care, Fetal echocardiography, Middle cerebral artery peak systolic velocity, Newborn anemia, Prenatal diagnosis

Background and study aims Magnifying endoscopy with narrow-band imaging (M-NBI) is reported to be useful in diagnosing invasion depth of superficial esophageal squamous cell carcinoma (SCC), but accurate diagnosis of deep submucosal invasion (SM2) has remained difficult. However, we discovered that irregularly branched microvessels observed with M-NBI are detected in SM2 cancers with high prevalence. Thus, this retrospective study aimed to investigate the diagnostic performance of irregularly branched microvessels as visualized by M-NBI for predicting SM2 cancers. Patients and methods Patients with superficial esophageal SCC lesions that were endoscopically or surgically resected at our hospital between September 2005 and December 2014 were included. Endoscopic findings by M-NBI of these lesions were presented to an experienced endoscopist who was unaware of the histopathological diagnosis and who then judged whether irregularly branched microvessels were present. Using the invasion depth according to postoperative histopathological diagnosis as the gold standard, we determined the diagnostic performance of the presence of irregularly branched microvessels as an indicator for SM2 cancers. Results A total of 302 superficial esophageal SCC lesions (228 patients) were included in the analysis. When irregularly branched microvessels were used as an indicator of SM2 cancers, the diagnostic accuracy was 94.0 % (95 % confidence interval [CI]: 91.1–96.1 %), sensitivity was 79.4 % (95 % CI: 66.6–88.4 %), specificity was 95.9 % (95 % CI: 94.3–97.0 %), positive predictive value was 71.1 % (95 % CI: 59.6–79.1 %), and negative predictive value was 97.3 % (95% CI: 95.7–98.5 %). Conclusions Irregularly branched microvessels may be a reliable M-NBI indicator for the diagnosis of cancers with deep submucosal invasion.

Active noise control (ANC) is a technique used to reduce environmental noise in noisy places such as office or aircraft cabin. ANC reduces the overall input signal even when it has necessary information such as conversation as well as noise. In other words, conventional ANC has the disadvantage of reducing the required sound. On the other hand, there are scenes where conversation is desired even in a noisy environment. However, since the entire input signal is reduced, it cannot be solved even by using conventional ANC. We propose speech separation ANC system which separate announce and noise then control only noise component by ANC. To separate noise from the input signal, we focus on the signal separation method of spectral subtraction method and harmonic extraction method. These methods are simple and require a small computational load but have the disadvantage of leaving an estimated noise component. We also propose two signal separation methods which remain less noise component. In this paper, we verify the effectiveness of the proposed signal separation method while comparing it with the conventional signal separation method. Furthermore, the sound attenuation performance of the proposed method is confirmed by a control experiment in an anechoic room.

In 2016, disseminated tuberculosis caused by Mycobacterium caprae was diagnosed in a captive Borneo elephant in Japan. The bacterium was initially identified from clinical isolates. An isolate collected during a relapse showed isoniazid monoresistance and a codon 315 katG mutation.

Zeolitic transition metal oxides provide both porosity and redox activity, thereby further expanding the diversity of porous materials, but their design and development remain rare. Here, the authors report a new class of zeolitic vanadotungstates with tunable frameworks exhibiting a large porosity and redox activity.

Background/AimsColonic diverticular hemorrhage (DH) was a rare disease until the 1990s, and its incidence has increased rapidly since 2000 in Japan. In recent years, colonic DH has been the most frequent cause of lower gastrointestinal bleeding (LGIB). Nearly all cases of DH are mild, with the bleeding often stopping spontaneously. Some cases, however, require surgery or arterial embolization. In this study, using a cohort at Fukuoka University Chikushi Hospital, we investigated factors associated with severe colonic DH.MethodsAmong patients with LGIB who underwent colonoscopy at our hospital between 1995 and 2013, DH was identified in 273 patients. Among them, 62 patients (22.7%) were defined as having severe colonic DH according to recurrence of bleeding in a short period, and/or the necessity of transfusion, arterial embolization, or surgery. We then evaluated risk factors for severe DH among DH patients in this retrospective cohort.ResultsAmong the 273 patients with DH, use of non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs) (odds ratio [OR], 2.801; 95% confidence interval [CI], 1.164–6.742), Charlson Risk Index (CRI) ≥2 (OR, 3.336; 95% CI, 1.154–7.353), right-sided colonic DH (OR, 3.873; 95% CI, 1.554–9.653), and symptoms of cerebral hypoperfusion (such as light-headedness, dizziness, or syncope) (OR, 2.926; 95% CI, 1.310–6.535) showed an increased risk of severe DH even after controlling for other factors.ConclusionsSevere DH occurred in 23% of DH patients, and NSAID use, CRI ≥2, right-sided colonic DH, and symptoms of cerebral hypoperfusion are suggested to be predictors of severe DH.

Abstract The stock unit used in fisheries resource assessment and management is generally based on the morphological and genetic characteristics of a particular population or species to avert problems caused by the treatment of multiple populations as one stock, which can lead to the overestimation of population sizes and genetic pollution. Furthermore, since the linkage of microhabitats is an important factor affecting the reproduction of marine organisms in coastal areas, an understanding of the food web in each microhabitat is essential to establish sustainable fisheries management practices. We investigated spatial variations in the food sources and feeding habits of immature stage of Siganus javus using genetic population analyses and stable isotope analyses (δ13C and δ15N). These species are commonly harvested by small-scale fisheries, and it inhabits Bandon Bay in the Surat Thani Province of Southern Thailand. Genetic variation within sampling sites was greater than that between sites. The δ13C values of S. javus differed between sites, which suggest that the different ecological habitats exhibit different rates and patterns of carbon flow even among sites located in the same bay. Our results suggest that studies combining genetic population analyses and stable isotope analyses are required to confirm the delineation of fine-scale management units intended for the development of coastal fishery resources.

Sound masking is a method that used for protecting speech privacy of conversation at public open space such as a pharmacy or a bank window. In a conventional masking, a masking sound is used to cover contents of conversation. This masking sound which is generated from a loudspeaker allow a third party not to understand what is said, but there is a problem that the sound level is increased because of a masking sound. Against this problem, we proposed Low-noise sound masking method using active noise control (ANC). The approach of this method is to make spectrum of phonemes flat by control sound. It is difficult to recognize phonemes that are processed by this method because the major factor determining the phonemes in speech recognition is the relative relationship of the peaks of its spectrum. In this paper, the sound attenuation performance of the proposed method is validated by control experiments in an anechoic chamber. Moreover, a listening experiment is carried out to investigate the sound masking performance. The result show that comparing with the conventional sound masking method, the proposed method can achieve the sound masking effect with a smaller sound pressure level.

Because of using interference of sound wave, it is difficult to control in whole three-dimensional acoustic field by Active Noise Control (ANC). Instead, around-head-control is investigated in this paper. In this system, two error microphones are set near ears, and noise is reduced around evaluation points locally. This system requires fast adaptation speed of controller following movement of head, and a problem still remains that the control effect during movement becomes worse. Against this problem, we propose Modified Reference signal Method (MRM). This method improves adaptation speed during movement, by modification of filtering of input signal in Filtered-x. The secondary path model that controller requires is interpolated by the method Ohno et al. proposed. There is modeling error of secondary path caused by interpolation and measuring error of it, and this modeling error causes divergence of controller. In this paper, suppression method of divergence is also investigated. Suppression of divergence is executed by addition of penalty term to evaluation value, and it is equivalent to ridge regression mathematically. Proposed method requires a large number of matrix calculations, therefore reducing method of computational complexity according to acoustic characteristics is also investigated in this paper. The validity of the proposed method is shown by numerical simulation and experiment.

When using the finite element method for structural–acoustic coupled analysis, the mass and stiffness matrices are not symmetric because the acoustic space is described by sound pressure and the structure is described by displacement. Therefore, eigenvalue analysis requires a long computational time. In this article, we proposed concentrated mass models for performing structural–acoustic coupled analysis. The advantage of this model is that the mass and stiffness matrices become symmetric because both the acoustic space and the membrane are described by the displacement of the mass points. Furthermore, our models do not generate spurious modes and zero eigenvalues that arise in finite element method whose variable is displacement in acoustic space. To validate the proposed models, the natural frequency obtained using the concentrated mass models is compared with the natural frequency found using finite element method. These results are in good agreement, and spurious modes and zero eigenvalues are not generated in the proposed model whose variables are sound pressure. Furthermore, we compare the proposed model with finite element method in terms of the calculation time required for the eigenvalue analysis. Because the matrices of the proposed models are symmetric, these eigenvalue analyses are faster than that of finite element method, whose matrices are asymmetric. Therefore, we conclude that the proposed model is valid for coupled analysis of a two-dimensional acoustic space and membrane vibration and that it is superior to finite element method in terms of calculation time.

Several adaptive feedforward control methods have been proposed in previous research on active noise control. In those methods, noise control is achieved by adding in a reverse-phase control sound of the same amplitude to noise near an error microphone. Because this method is aimed at controlling only noise near the error microphone, the control area is inherently narrow. Here, we propose an alternative method of noise control for an entire closed space. The proposed method is based on state feedback control and modeling of the acoustic space by the concentrated-mass model. The acoustic space is modeled as masses, connecting springs, and connecting dampers. Further, a loudspeaker as control source is also modeled as a mass-spring-damper system. We previously reported a method for simple one-dimensional acoustic space control. In this paper, we show the design of a control system for two-dimensional acoustic spaces. The acoustic space and loudspeakers are modeled in a concentrated-mass model, and the state feedback control system is realized as a Kalman filter with pole placement. The number of degrees of freedom is reduced by using modal analysis, which reduces the computation time of the controller. Experiments and numerical simulation of the coupled system were conducted to confirm the validity of the analysis model. Noise in the acoustic space was experimentally controlled, with the finding that noise in the entire acoustic space was reduced around the resonance frequencies. Furthermore, the limit of the control effect are considered within the proposed system.

Sloshing phenomena in containers during earthquakes often cause serious accidents. For oil tanks with a floating roof, sloshing and structural vibration should be treated as a coupled problem. A Lagrangian fluid finite element method has been used to analyze the coupled problem because the compatibility and the equilibrium conditions are automatically satisfied at the boundary between the fluid and the structure. However, the number of degrees of freedom of the Lagrangian method becomes large because the fluid particles move vertically and horizontally. In addition, the Lagrangian model has physically meaningless spurious modes caused by redundancy in the degrees of freedom. In this paper, liquid in a rectangular container is modeled with a linear concentrated mass model to establish an efficient, accurate analytical model for the coupled problem. The model consists of masses and connecting springs. The masses move horizontally and the vertical liquid motion is considered as vertically movable points. The masses are governed by the equations of motion. The vertical displacements of the moving points are determined from the displacements of the masses based on the incompressibility of the liquid. The characteristics of the connecting springs are derived from the static and dynamic pressures of the liquid. In the proposed model, there are fewer degrees of freedom than in the Lagrangian model and the spurious modes do not occur. The proposed model is validated by comparing the calculated natural frequencies and natural modes with the theoretical values.

Some acoustic problems such as interior noise analysis of vehicles need to be treated as structural-acoustic coupled problems because the coupling effect cannot be ignored. To solve such problems, the finite element method (FEM) has been used. However, the acoustic space is described by sound pressure and the structure is described by displacement. Therefore, the mass matrix and stiffness matrix of FEM are asymmetric, and it takes a long time to conduct eigenvalue analysis. In our previous studies, we proposed a concentrated mass model to perform acoustic analysis. In this study, we propose a concentrated mass model to analyze a coupled system of two-dimensional acoustic space and a membrane. This model consists of mass points and connecting springs. The advantage of this model is that the mass matrix and stiffness matrix are symmetric because both the acoustic space and the membrane are described by the displacement of the mass points. We conducted eigenvalue analysis and compared the proposed model with FEM. There are some modes such as spurious modes and zero-frequency modes that are physically meaningless. However, excepting these modes, the eigenvalue analysis result obtained using the proposed model agrees with the natural frequencies and natural modes obtained by FEM. Moreover, the eigenvalue analysis result becomes more accurate as the mass points of the acoustic space are placed closer to the mass points of the membrane because the boundary conditions are satisfied. Furthermore, we compared the proposed model with FEM in terms of the time required for the eigenvalue analysis. Because the mass matrix and stiffness matrix of the proposed model are symmetric, its eigenvalue analysis is faster than that of FEM, whose matrixes are asymmetric. Therefore, we conclude that the proposed model is valid for the coupled analysis of two-dimensional acoustic space and membrane vibration and is superior to FEM in terms of calculation time.

A magnetic damper composed of a permanent magnet and a conducing plate has the advantage that the magnetic damper can generate a damping force with no physically contact. The conducting plate needs to be thickened in order to obtain a stronger magnetic damping force, since the magnitude of the magnetic flux produced by a permanent magnet is limited. However, it is known that the magnitude of the magnetic damping force is limited, even if the conducting plate of the magnetic damper has a large thickness. It has been considered that skin effect by eddy currents is the cause of this limited magnetic damping force. In addition, it is known that eddy currents have a very slight effect on the natural frequency of a structure with a magnetic damper. In this paper, the coil method considering inductances is proposed as one of the modeling methods for magnetic dampers consisting of a ring magnet and a conducting disk moving relatively in an axial direction. Applying this method, a modal analysis of the free and the forced vibration of a 1-DOF system with a magnetic damper are performed, and the magnetic damping and the magnetic stiffness considering the skin effect, are introduced. Furthermore, the experiments are performed in order to confirm the practicality of the method. The analytical results are found to be in agreement with the experimental results.

In this paper, an adaptive robust feedback (FB) active noise control (ANC) system is proposed and applied to the previously developed active noise barrier (ANB) using a hybrid (HB) ANC system, which aims to relieve the indoor noise problem. The FB control is preferred for this small-typed ANB application because only error sensor is required for the FB control system so that a compact controller can be easily realized. In practice, however, the robust stability of the FB controller must be considered. Moreover, the waterbed effect of the FB control will cause noise enhancement at some frequencies out of the target band of control. In order to design a robust controller with limited noise enhancement in real-time control, a modified frequency domain block LMS (modified FDB-LMS, MFDB-LMS) algorithm, which has the reduced computation complexity and the same steady-state performance comparing with the conventional FDB-LMS algorithm, is proposed in this paper, firstly, owing to the easiness to verify the robust stability and the noise enhancement constraints in the frequency domain adaptive process. Then, an internal model control (IMC) typed FB-ANC system exploiting the MFDB-LMS algorithm, into which the constraints to guarantee the robust stability and limit the noise enhancement to within a given value has been integrated, is proposed and applied to the ANB. The effectiveness of the proposed FB-ANC system and the noise attenuation performance of the ANB using the proposed system have been validated by simulations.

In this paper, the hybrid active noise control (HB-ANC) system applied in the active noise barrier (ANB) is improved, and the noise attenuation performace of the ANB is invetigated under four different sound field configurations. This hybird ANB reduces the diffraction noise from top of the ANB and the noise propagated to the head position of the target person behind the ANB simultaneously to achieve higher noise attenuation. However, the waterbed effect of the feedback control part of the HB-ANC system will cause noise enhancement at some frequencies in the control area. In order to solve this problem, the HB-ANC system is improved by adding a filter to cancel the noise enhancement caused by the waterbed effect. Then, the noise attenuation performance of the hybrid ANB under four sound field configurations is evaluated by simulations. The sound field configurations are set up to investigate how the diffraction from side of the ANB and the reflection influence the performance of the ANB. An experiment in the anechoic chamber is also conducted. The results indicate that the low frequency noise attenuation can be obtained in a wide area behind the ANB, and at the head position of the person, the noise attenuation can be ensured within a wider frequency range, even for the sound fields where the uncontrolled diffraction from side and the reflection exist.

Palpation is an important diagnostic technique in medicine. However, it is subjective, and successful diagnosis depends on the skill and experience of the doctor. Therefore, a quantitative method for measuring the hardness of the living body and detecting abnormal tissue is desirable. In this paper, we propose a concentrated mass model of the body to analyze its motion in an indentation test. The model consists of masses, connecting springs, connecting dampers, base support springs, and base support dampers. The mass is the mass of the elastic body, the connecting spring is derived from the normal stress, and the base support spring is derived from the shear stress. Furthermore, we develop a method to measure the Young's modulus and the position of abnormal tissue with the model when a column contactor is pressed into the body. To confirm the validity of the method, we measured the Young's modulus of silicone. The measurement results by the proposed method agreed with the value obtained with a parallel disk rotary rheometer. Moreover, our method gave accurate values for the Young's modulus of the second layer of two-layered silicone and the distance from the surface to the second layer. These results confirmed that our method is capable of measuring the Young's modulus of the soft materials and the boundary depth in two-layered objects.

We herein propose a new model-based control method, in place of traditional adaptive control, for a low-frequency noise problem in a closed space. The proposed control method is based on state feedback control and a model of the acoustic space obtained by the concentrated mass model. Thus, we can control noise in the entire space. According to the concentrated mass model, the acoustic space is modeled as masses, connecting linear springs, connecting dampers, and base support dampers. Furthermore, a loudspeaker, as a control source, is also modeled by a mass, a spring, and a damper. In the present paper, as a first step, we constructed a coupled analysis model of a one-dimensional acoustic space and the loudspeaker. We designed the model-based control system for the standing sound wave in the low-frequency band. Specifically, we realized a state feedback control system based on a Kalman filter and pole placement. Modal reduction using modal analysis is conducted to reduce the computation time of the controller. Then, we conducted experiments and a numerical simulation of the one-dimensional sound tube to confirm the validity of the analysis model. Moreover, we perform an experiment to control the noise in the sound tube. The noise is reduced around the resonance frequency in the entire space. Therefore, the proposed method is valid for noise control in a closed space.

In this paper, in order to improve the low frequency noise insulation performance of a noise barrier, a new type of hybrid active noise control (ANC) system is proposed. The proposed system is a combination of feedforward and feedback controller. The reference signal for the feedforward controller is generated in the feedback part, so the reference microphone is not necessary. The feedback controller is used for controlling the acoustic boundary to insulate the diffraction noise, and the feedforward controller is used for reducing the noise at the error microphone which is set to be near the ears of people. As a preliminary work, this paper validated the effectiveness of the proposed ANC system both by simulations and by an experiment. The result shows that the active noise insulation provided by feedback controller and the noise attenuation provided by feedforward controller accumulated in the control area, so that the proposed ANC system has better control performance than individual feedforward or feedback ANC system.

A pressure wave generated by a compressor propagates in an air-conditioner piping system and causes a noise problem. The flow condition in the air-conditioner piping system becomes often a one-component two-phase flow, and attenuation of the pressure wave in the one-component two-phase flow is larger than the two-component two-phase flow because of the effect of the mass transfer. It is also important for the safety of nuclear reactors to understand the characteristic of pressure wave problems in the one-component two-phase flow. In this paper, we propose a concentrated mass model to analyze the pressure wave problems in the one-component two-phase flow. This model consists of masses, connecting springs, connecting dampers, and nonlinear base support dampers. The connecting spring and the connecting damper are derived from the compressibility of the gas phase and the effect of the mass transfer when the phase-change occurs. And the nonlinear base support damper is derived from the pipe friction. Additionally, an experiment on an air-conditioner piping system is performed, and the experimental results are compared with the numerical result in order to confirm the validity of the model. The numerical computational results agree very well with the experimental results. Especially, the attenuation of the pressure wave generated by the phase-change is numerically reproduced. Therefore, it is concluded that the proposed model is valid for the numerical analysis of the pressure wave problem in the two-phase flow.

To investigate the exact isolation frequency of 16S rRNA methylase–producing, gram-negative pathogenic bacteria, we tested 87,626 clinical isolates from 169 hospitals. Twenty-six strains from 16 hospitals harbored 16S rRNA methylase genes, which suggests sparse but diffuse spread of pan-aminoglycoside–resistant microbes in Japan.

ε-Keggin-based mixed metal oxide (ε-MoMO) comprises a network arrangement based on an ε-Keggin {Mo12O40} unit and a {MO6} octahedral, forming a framework structure containing cage and channel textures such as an Faujasite (FAU)-type zeolite. In this study, we successfully synthesized 3 novel ε-MoMOs, namely ε-MoMgO, ε-MoYO, and ε-MoInO, and their physicochemical properties were investigated. All these materials showed a microporosity to adsorb CO2 of up to 33% to 42% in their crystallographically expected microporous capacity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]