A new method for forecasting the current of sacrificial anodes using data assimilation was developed. In our system, In the framework of data assimilation, the system model forecasts the future state by the technical knowledge gained from experiments. The observation model corrects the forecasted result by the measurement information. In order to demonstrate the effectiveness and efficiency of our system, the verification experiment was performed at the real marine steel structures. The proposed method is expected to be a new approach for corrosion protection maintenance.

A new method for estimating the current of sacrificial anodes and the surface potential of the structure from the potential measurement was developed. The observation equation is formed by finite element method considering the geometry of the sea structure. Since this estimation problem is ill conditioned, the Bayesian Estimation approach is employed to overcome the problem. In order to demonstrate the effectiveness and efficiency of the present method, the verification experiment was performed at the real steel structures. This method enables us to estimate the corrosion protection state of the marine steel structure with easy inspection.

We first show results of (NMR-1/T-1)-T curves of LaFeAsO1-xFx samples with various x values. It does not have the coherence peak and absolute values of dlog(1/T-1)/dlog(T/T-c) shows the dome shaped x dependence with a maximum at the optimum x value. Considering the T dependent energy broadening of quasi-particles and magnetic susceptibility below T-c, we show that the nonexistence of the coherence peak cannot necessarily be regarded as the evidence for the S-+/- symmetry of the order parameter. We also present NMR data on the superconducting Ca-Fe-Pt-As system recently found by Kakiya et al. As-75-NMR spectra taken for single crystals of the system indicate clear evidence that Pt atoms are doped into the FeAs conducting layers consistently with the results of the structure analyses, indicating that the superconductivity survives even in the existence of strong impurity scattering of the conduction electrons.

In this paper, we propose a method which controls lower limb muscles in quasi-static lower limb motion. We determined a quasi-static motion as a series of isometric motions. The method is added integrated muscle forces as a condition for the control than a previous method for isometric motion. The method makes muscles fulfilled the desired muscle force during the motion.

In this research, we developed a novel ankle-foot assist device for stroke rehabilitation and walking assistant purpose. A Stewart platform mechanism is used, which can adapt to the displacement of the rotation axis of human foot. With using six potentiometer assembled cylinders, the posture of human foot can be controlled/measured in all 6-DOF direction by controlling/measuring the lengths of all cylinders. A calculating method is also proposed, to estimate the instantaneous rotation axis of ankle-foot motion. It can make foot motion assistant more accurate and comfortable. In this paper, we describe the structure and the control/estimation method of this assist device. Some initial results of experiments will show the validity of this device and the rotation axis estimation method.

In this research, in order to achieve Pinpointed Muscle Force Control (PMFC) in lower limb, we developed lower limb musculoskeletal model and use the model for calculation and control one or some selected target muscles force. PMFC is the method which can be expected the effect to rehabilitation or training by giving a stimulus to the particular muscle. In the developed model, one leg has 4 links, 7 degrees of freedom (DOFs) and 44 major muscles. This model can estimate the muscle forces by using the optimization method. Some external force which the selected muscle generates target muscle force are obtained by using this model. The validation is taken by comparing change rate of the estimated muscle force with change rate of electromyogram (EMG) of the muscle obtained from experiments. We validate effectiveness of this model and the PMFC in lower limb by result of experiments.

Stringent NOx and volatile organic compound (VOC) flue gas regulation was set force for various emission sources. The conventional emission control technologies such as SCR for NOx treatment and incineration and catalysts treatment for VOCs have limitations in terms of costs and performance. A novel economical and cost effective device is mandated to meet the regulation. A new approach consists of flue gas adsorption, desorption (concentration and adsorbent regeneration), followed by nonthermal plasma decomposition was developed. These hybrid processes make the flue gas volume order of magnitude small, resulting in the reduction of the energy cost, reactor size and power supply. This concept was applied for NOx, various VOCs and hazardous air pollutants treatment. More than 90% of NOx and VOCs reduction was achieved using a series of surface discharge units. The energy efficiencies of 3.35 g(NO2)/kWh for NOx and 34.2 g/kWh for toluene were achieved using concentration technique, followed by surface discharge plasma reactor. This process results one order of magnitude energy and cost effective, compared with the continuous low concentration plasma treatment.

A 19-year old man was admitted for treatment of a right psoas abscess. He was first diagnosed as Crohn's disease with ileocolitis and fistula, which caused the abscess. Following the drainage of the abscess and conservative treatment including administration of antibiotics, total parenteral nutrition and medication, his symptoms were temporarily improved. After recurrence, additional therapy with infliximab successfully induced remission. He has remained free from abdominal symptoms and recurrence of the abscess. It seems that conservative treatment including infliximab administration is useful for induction as well as maintenance of remission and avoiding surgical treatment.

PURPOSE To report a case of an arteriolar macroaneurysm on the optic disk associated with branch retinal vein occlusion (BRVO). METHOD Patient chart review. PATIENT An 80-year-old man presented with a retinal arteriolar macroaneurysm on the optic disk on the root of a papillomacular vein, which caused BRVO. RESULTS Eight months later, the macroaneurysm shrank spontaneously and became fibrous tissue. The hemorrhage and edema due to BRVO resolved. DISCUSSION We speculate that the macroaneurysm was located on and compressed the epipapillary portion of the papillomacular vein, resulting in BRVO. With spontaneous involution of the macroaneurysm, the compression resolved, and the clinical findings improved.

Invasive pulmonary aspergillosis (IPA) and pneumocystis jiroveci pneumonia (PCP) are life-threatening opportunistic infections that occur in immunocompromised hosts. Early diagnosis and treatment of these opportunistic infections is essential to the survival of immunocompromised patients. We report a 60-year-old man undergoing short-term steroid therapy after surgical resection of a brain tumor infected with combined invasive pulmonary aspergillosis and pneumocystis jiroveci pneumonia diagnosed by bronchoscopy with bronchoalveolar lavage. Our case demonstrated that short-term systemic steroid therapy in non-HIV patients with underlying chronic lung conditions and malignancies was a risk factor for IPA and PCP, and for a combination of these infections.

We report a case of successfully treated acute thrombocytopenia associated with preexisting ulcerative colitis (UC). The patient had typical symptoms of UC, and colonoscopy showed pancolitis. During treatment with sulfasalazopyridine (SASP) and steroids, thrombocytopenia was observed. Despite the cessation of drugs, severe thrombocytopenia was noted. Immune thrombocytopenic purpura (ITP) was suspected based on a normal bone marrow megakaryocyte count, positive autoantibody to platelet membrane antigen, and the absence of splenomegaly. Medical treatment, including increased dosage of steroids, failed to control UC and acute thrombocytopenia in this patient. Moreover, acute severe pancreatitis developed and abdominal computed tomography showed toxic megacolon. Platelet count recovered after urgent total colectomy without splenectomy. When patients with UC develop thrombocytopenia, particularly in the presence of extensive and significant colonic inflammation, a diagnosis of ITP should be considered. In such patients, preexisting UC might be involved in the immunological causal mechanism of ITP. In this situation, colectomy might cure both UC and resistant thrombocytopenia. Steroid-refractory and life-threatening UC complicated by thrombocytopenia presumably caused by ITP is therefore a possible indication for colectomy.

Platelet-activating factor acetylhydrolase (PAF-AH) is an enzyme hydrolyzing platelet-activating factor (PAF), a potent inflammatory mediator, but the relationship between this enzyme and inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) is not fully elucidated. The aim of the present study was to examine the usefulness of the serum PAF-AH activity in order to differentiate ulcerative colitis (UC) from Crohn's disease (CD). The serum PAF-AH activity was measured in 57 patients with IBD (39 UC and 18 CD patients) and 13 control subjects by a spectrophotometric method. The serum PAF-AH activity was thus found to be significantly lower in patients with CD (median 265.5 U/l) than in those with UC (355 U/l) or control subjects (374 U/l). This marker at a cutoff level of 386 U/l demonstrated a sensitivity of 46%, a specificity of 100%, and a positive predictive value of 100% regarding its ability to distinguish UC from CD. Moreover, the marker responded inversely to the changes in the disease activity of IBD. These results suggest that measuring the serum PAF-AH activity is a useful diagnostic modality for making a differential diagnosis between UC and CD.

The etiology of inflammatory bowel disease is multifacto rial and appears to combine both genetic and environmental factors. We experienced here a rare occurrence of woman monozygotic twins with ulcerative colitis (UC). A 45-year-old woman (the elder monozygotic twin) was admitted to our hospital because of bloody diarrhea occurring over 10 times per day, abdominal pain and fever. She was diagnosed as UC at the age of 22, and repeated the relapse and remission. She was diagnosed as relapse of UC and total colitis type. Her younger monozygotic twin sister also suffered from UC at the age of 22. Human leukocyte antigen was examined serologically with DNA type in both patients. DRB1*1502, which was previously shown to be dominant in Japanese patients with UC, was not observed in this case. Although the concordance in monozygotic twin in UC is reported to be 6.3-18.8%, the concordant case like this is relatively rare. We report this rare case of UC and the previously reported cases are also discussed.

Glucose transporter-1 (GLUT-1) expression was immunohistochemically analysed in a total of 268 cases of thyroid gland disease, including 129 cases of papillary carcinoma (PC), 60 cases of follicular carcinoma (FC), 57 cases of follicular adenoma, and 22 cases of adenomatous goitre. Seventy-one percent (91/129) of PC cases showed GLUT-1 expression, semi-quantitatively evaluated as: +, 21 cases (16%); 2+, 37 cases (29%); 3+, 33 cases (26%); and negative, 38 cases (29%). These positive cases were divided into two groups: 'membrane-like' pattern in 24 cases (19%), and 'cytoplasm-predominance' pattern in 67 cases (52%). GLUT-1 expression was observed in 5% (3/60) of FC cases, but all follicular adenomas and adenomatous goitres were negative for GLUT-1 (PC vs. FC, p<0.0001). Membrane-like expression was observed more frequently in non-organ-confined PCs (pT4) than in organ-confined PCs (pT1, 2, and 3) (p=0.0056). Seventy-five percent (18/24) of PC cases showing membrane-like expression were non-organ-confined. The membrane-like pattern was observed more frequently in PCs with lymph node (LN) metastasis compared to those without (p=0.0036). Ninety-two percent (22/24) of PC cases showing the membrane-like pattern were not organ-confined. Semi-quantitative analysis of glut-1 mRNA by RT-PCR showed a tendency toward higher expression in PCs compared to FCs, follicular adenomas and adenomatous goitres, and the mRNA expression in PCs with a membrane-like pattern was higher than those showing cytoplasm-predominance. We concluded that: 1) GLUT-1 is immunohistochemically useful in distinguishing PC from FC and benign diseases; 2) GLUT-1 may play an important role in the advancement of PC and LN metastasis, and its membrane-like expression is of more clinical significance than the cytoplasm-predominance pattern; and 3) glut-1 mRNA expression corresponds with the immunohistochemical expression profile.