Sustainable Campus Initiative at Keio University after the Great East Japan Earthquake Disaster

After the shock of the Great East Japan Earthquake on 11 March 2011, the issue of local sustainability is presently center stage in the Japanese political process, and educational and research values are imperative for long-term cost savings, risk management, and clean, efficient energy generation. This study illustrates the Sustainable Campus Initiative approach at Keio University that students have been undertaking to make the campus more sustainable and resilient during post-disaster restoration. To unveil innovative recovery concepts, processes, and social challenges, several outcomes that maximize energy efficiency and conservation opportunities are discussed. The results indicate that the Sustainable Campus Initiative contributed to energy relief in the summer of 2011. It made campus life more creative during a period when the 15 percent mandatory power-saving order by the government to big clients of Tokyo and Tohoku Electric was established. Pilot experiments provide a useful example of how the communications media have an extraordinary ability to increase public understanding of social issues. Since the March 11 disaster, power shortages have redirected renewed attention to fossil fuels. As large energy consumers, universities have an increased responsibility to demonstrate their commitment to sustainable design and encourage innovative development concepts in their regions in the future.

Regenerative medicine strategies for chronic complete spinal cord injury

Spinal cord injury is a condition in which the parenchyma of the spinal cord is damaged by trauma or various diseases.While rapid progress has been made in regenerative medicine for spinal cord injury that was previously untreatable,most research in this field has focused on the early phase of incomplete injury.However,the majority of patients have chronic severe injuries;therefore,treatments for these situations are of fundamental importance.The reason why the treatment of complete spinal cord injury has not been studied is that,unlike in the early stage of incomplete spinal cord injury,there are various inhibitors of neural regeneration.Thus,we assumed that it is difficult to address all conditions with a single treatment in chronic complete spinal cord injury and that a combination of several treatments is essential to target severe pathologies.First,we established a combination therapy of cell transplantation and drug-releasing scaffolds,which contributes to functional recovery after chronic complete transection spinal cord injury,but we found that functional recovery was limited and still needs further investigation.Here,for the further development of the treatment of chronic complete spinal cord injury,we review the necessary approaches to the different pathologies based on our findings and the many studies that have been accumulated to date and discuss,with reference to the literature,which combination of treatments is most effective in achieving functional recovery.

The neutrophil–osteogenic cell axis promotes bone destruction in periodontitis

The immune-stromal cell interactions play a key role in health and diseases. In periodontitis, the most prevalent infectious disease in humans, immune cells accumulate in the oral mucosa and promote bone destruction by inducing receptor activator of nuclear factor-κB ligand (RANKL) expression in osteogenic cells such as osteoblasts and periodontal ligament cells. However, the detailed mechanism underlying immune–bone cell interactions in periodontitis is not fully understood. Here, we performed single-cell RNAsequencing analysis on mouse periodontal lesions and showed that neutrophil–osteogenic cell crosstalk is involved in periodontitis-induced bone loss. The periodontal lesions displayed marked infiltration of neutrophils, and in silico analyses suggested that the neutrophils interacted with osteogenic cells through cytokine production. Among the cytokines expressed in the periodontal neutrophils, oncostatin M (OSM) potently induced RANKL expression in the primary osteoblasts, and deletion of the OSM receptor in osteogenic cells significantly ameliorated periodontitis-induced bone loss. Epigenomic data analyses identified the OSM-regulated RANKL enhancer region in osteogenic cells, and mice lacking this enhancer showed decreased periodontal bone loss while maintaining physiological bone metabolism. These findings shed light on the role of neutrophils in bone regulation during bacterial infection, highlighting the novel mechanism underlying osteoimmune crosstalk.

Early detection and intervention in diabetic gastroparesis:Role of body surface gastric mapping

Diabetic gastrointestinal neuropathy is a diabetes-related complication,associated with a complex interplay of hyperglycemic damage,autoimmune responses,oxidative stress,gastrointestinal hormones,and vascular insufficiency.Patients with diabetes should be monitored and therapeutic intervention introduced to prevent neuropathy due to diabetes prior to“the point of no return”.Determining gastric bioelectrical activity by body surface gastric mapping may be a promising option to monitor diabetic gastrointestinal neuropathy.

Spinal cord injury regenerative therapy development:integration of design of experiments

Spinal cord injury(SCI)can cause motor and sensory paralysis,and autonomic nervous system disorders including malfunction of urination and defecation,thereby significantly impairing the quality of life.Researchers continue to explo re new stem cell strategies for the treatment of paralysis by transpla nting human induced pluripotent stem cell-derived neural ste m/progenitor cells(hiPSCNS/PCs)into spinal cord injured tissues.

Migratory mode transition of astrocyte progenitors in the cerebral cortex: an intrinsic or extrinsic cell process?

The cerebral cortex is comprised of properly localized cell types that exert their specific functions.In the developing brain,cells migrate from the germinal region to their functional locations(Silva et al.,2019;Cossart and Garel,2022).For example,neocortical excitatory neurons are generated in the cerebral ventricular and subventricular zones,move to the developing cortical plate via radial migration,and reside in a radial array of six neuronal layers(Oishi and Nakajima,2018).On the other hand,cortical interneurons are mainly generated in ganglionic eminences,migrate tangentially across the cerebral cortex,and reach their final destinations in the cortex(Lim et al.,2018).The failure of neuronal migration leads to defects in cortical layer formation.While the mechanisms of neuronal distribution have been well examined,how astrocytes are diffusely distributed in the cortex is still unclear.Astrocytes are glial cells in the cerebral cortex with several functions,including metabolic support and synapse formation(Abbott et al.,2006;Bosworth and Allen,2017;Allen and Lyons,2018).For example,astrocytes establish synaptic connectivity in the developing brain while they contact numerous synapses and maintain optimal neuronal activity in the adult brain.In the developing brain,astrocytes are primarily generated from radial glia after the neurogenic period.While a certain type of astrocyte called fibrous astrocytes populates the white matter,protoplasmic astrocytes migrate to the cortical plate during neural network formation.

Roles of N-cadherin in cerebral cortical development:cooperation with membrane trafficking and actin cytoskeletal regulation

Cell adhesion plays pivotal roles in the morphogenesis of multicellular organisms.Epithelial cells form several types of cell-to-cell adhesion,including zonula occludens(tight junctions),zonula adhaerens(adherens junctions),and macula adhaerens(desmosomes).Although these adhesion complexes are basically observed only in epithelial cells,cadherins,which are the major cell adhesion molecules of adherens junctions,are expressed in both epithelial and non-epithelial tissues,including neural tissues(Kawauchi,2012).The cadherin superfamily consists of more than 100 members,but classic cadherins.

Novel procedure for hepatic venous outflow block after liver resection:A case report

BACKGROUND Postoperative complications like remnant hepatic vein(HV)outflow block and liver torsion can occur after right hepatectomy.Hepatic falciform ligament fixation is typically used to prevent liver torsion.We report a novel procedure to manage outflow block.CASE SUMMARY An 80-year-old man developed HV outflow block after remnant right hepatectomy,despite liver fixation and intraoperative HV flow check.He had a history of cholangiocellular carcinoma and had undergone posterior segmentectomy and choledojejunostomy.The falciform ligament fixation was inadequate to maintain liver position.Emergency surgery was performed,using an omental flap and mobilized right side colon with ileocecal region to prevent liver dislocation due to intraabdominal adhesion.His postoperative course was uneventful.CONCLUSION This is the first report providing a novel surgical procedure when the falciform ligament is insufficient for remnant liver fixation.

DPY19L3 promotes vasculogenicmimicry by its C-mannosyltransferase activity

C-mannosylation is a post-translational modification that occurs intracellularly in the endoplasmic reticulum.In humans,biosynthesis of C-mannosylation in proteins containing thrombospondin type 1 repeat is catalyzed by the DPY19 family;nonetheless,biological functions of protein C-mannosylation are not yet fully understood,especially in tumor progression.Vasculogenic mimicry(VM)is the formation of fluid-conducting channels by highly invasive and genetically deregulated tumor cells,enabling the tumors to form matrix-embedded vasculogenic structures,containing plasma and blood cells to meet the metabolic demands of rapidly growing tumors.In this study,we focused on DPY19L3,a C-mannosyltransferase,and aimed to unravel its role in VM.Knockout of DPY19L3 inhibited the formation of VM in HT1080 human fibrosarcoma cells.Re-expression of wild-type DPY19L3 recovered VM formation;however,DPY19L3 isoform2,an enzymatic activity-defect mutant,did not restore it,suggesting that the C-mannosyltransferase activity of DPY19L3 is crucial to its function.Furthermore,the knockdown of DPY19L3 in MDA-MB-231 breast cancer cells hindered its network formation ability.Altogether,our findings suggest that DPY19L3 is required for VM formation and stipulate the relevance of C-mannosylation in oncogenesis.

Cisplatin-induced activation of TGF-βsignaling contributes to drug resistance

Growing evidence suggests an association between epithelial-mesenchymal transition(EMT),a hallmark of tumor malignancy,and chemoresistance to a number of anti-cancer drugs.However,the mechanism of EMT induction in the process of acquiring anti-cancer drug resistance remains unclear.To address this issue,we obtained a number of cisplatin-resistant clones from LoVo cells and found that almost all of them lost cell-cell contacts.In these clones,the epithelial marker E-cadherin was downregulated,whereas the mesenchymal marker N-cadherin was upregulated.Moreover,the expression of EMT-related transcription factors,including Slug,was elevated.On the other hand,the upregulation of other mesenchymal marker Vimentin was weak,suggesting that the mesenchymal-like phenotypic changes occurred in these cisplatin-resistant clones.These mesenchymal-like features of cisplatin-resistant clones were partially reversed to parental epithelial-like features by treatment with transforming growth factor-β(TGF-β)receptor kinase inhibitors,indicating that TGF-βsignaling is involved in cisplatin-induced the mesenchymallike phenotypic changes.Moreover,cisplatin was observed to enhance the secretion of TGF-βinto the culture media without influencing TGF-βgene transcription.These results suggest that cisplatin may induce the mesenchymal-like phenotypic changes by enhancing TGF-βsecretion,ultimately resulting in drug resistance.

Analysis of the Factors Influencing Urban Size on Air Concentrations of Particulate Matter PM_(2.5)and PM_(10)in China

In the construction of resilient cities,regional air pollution prevention plays a pivotal role.Building on the previous research experience,the relationship between air pollution concentration and urban size exhibits a sublinear allometric growth pattern.To identify effective strategies for mitigating particulate matter air pollution,this study quantitatively explored 6 variables influencing urbanization in China’s cities and established an allometry model.Empirical analysis was conducted using data from 293 prefecturelevel cities and 1,827 county-level cities to examine the relationship between annual concentrations of fine particulate matter PM_(2.5) and PM_(10) in the atmosphere.①The findings of this study provided partial validation for the Kuznets curve and demonstrated a reverse‘U’-shaped association between urbanization and levels of PM_(2.5) and PM_(10) pollution.②By partitioning the Hu Huanyong line,this study identified the spatial distribution pattern of PM_(2.5) and PM_(10).In central and western regions,as urban size expands,inhalable particle concentrations tended to increase further;whereas in the southeast region,inhalable particle concentrations gradually decreased and stabilized after a certain threshold of urban scale expansion was reached.Among the factors influencing urban size,green coverage within built-up areas exerted the most significant impact on both PM_(2.5) and PM_(10) concentrations,followed by the extent of built-up areas and the scale of secondary industries.This study presented an effective strategy for reconciling conflicts between urban expansion and air pollution management,while concurrently promoting resilient cities characterized by high levels of modernization and superior quality.

History of Western Philosophy and Quantum Language (Including Quantum Mechanics, Statistics, Fuzzy Logic, etc.)

Although there are many different types of philosophy, many philosophers agree that the mainstream of Western philosophy (Socrates, Plato, Aristotle, Descartes, Kant, Wittgenstein) developed toward the perfection of Socrates’ absolutism. But can the absolutism maintain its central position after analytic philosophy? There are pessimistic views on this problem, such as that of R. Rorty, the standard-bearer of neo-pragmatism. Recently, I proposed quantum language (which is including quantum mechanics, statistics, fuzzy sets, etc.). I think that that this theory is not only one of the most fundamental scientific theories, but also the scientific final destination of Western philosophy. If so, Socrates’ dream has come true. The purpose of this paper is to discuss the above and to inform readers that quantum language has the power to create a paradigm shift from the classical mechanical world view to the quantum mechanical worldview.

Panel Discussion on“ The Role of Computer Science in University Development Strategy”

At the end of the keynotes during the second Global Forum of Development of Computer Science,a panel discussion was held to encourage further discussion on ways for universities to adapt to the rapidly changing computer science field.Five deans of top computer science departments participated,including the moderator.The discussions were guided along three topics,namely the role of computer science departments in universities today,the nature of computer science as a fundamental discipline or an applied one,and computer science education.Out of these topics,the panelists mainly focused on the interdisciplinary nature of computer science in teaching,research,and industry.The panelists agreed about ways to prepare for the interdisciplinary future,for example by establishing new research centers,introducing projectbased curricula,and collaborating with industry while keeping the campus vibrant.They also pointed out that universities may be under equipped for preparing future professionals to keep up with rapid new advances,especially in machine learning and artificial intelligence.

Effect of tool geometry on ultraprecision machining of soft-brittle materials:a comprehensive review

Brittle materials are widely used for producing important components in the industry of optics,optoelectronics,and semiconductors.Ultraprecision machining of brittle materials with high surface quality and surface integrity helps improve the functional performance and lifespan of the components.According to their hardness,brittle materials can be roughly divided into hard-brittle and soft-brittle.Although there have been some literature reviews for ultraprecision machining of hard-brittle materials,up to date,very few review papers are available that focus on the processing of soft-brittle materials.Due to the‘soft’and‘brittle’properties,this group of materials has unique machining characteristics.This paper presents a comprehensive overview of recent advances in ultraprecision machining of soft-brittle materials.Critical aspects of machining mechanisms,such as chip formation,surface topography,and subsurface damage for different machining methods,including diamond turning,micro end milling,ultraprecision grinding,and micro/nano burnishing,are compared in terms of tool-workpiece interaction.The effects of tool geometries on the machining characteristics of soft-brittle materials are systematically analyzed,and dominating factors are sorted out.Problems and challenges in the engineering applications are identified,and solutions/guidelines for future R&D are provided.

Pemafibrate,a potent selective peroxisome proliferator-activated receptorαmodulator,a promising novel treatment for ischemic retinopathy?

Ischemic retinopathy is a retinal disease caused by ischemic attacks.Ischemia is a common pathologic mechanism in various retinal disorders and diseases such as age-related macular degeneration,diabetic retinopathy,glaucoma,or vascular occlusion(Osborne et al.,2004).Although various murine models have been developed to understand a series of metabolic mechanisms induced by retinal ischemia and further used to test promising therapeutics,effective treatment in ischemic retinopathy has not been clearly suggested.This is associated with the notion that the contributing pathologic metabolic pathways might be enormously complex.

A theoretical and deep learning hybrid model for predicting surface roughness of diamond-turned polycrystalline materials

Polycrystalline materials are extensively employed in industry.Its surface roughness significantly affects the working performance.Material defects,particularly grain boundaries,have a great impact on the achieved surface roughness of polycrystalline materials.However,it is difficult to establish a purely theoretical model for surface roughness with consideration of the grain boundary effect using conventional analytical methods.In this work,a theoretical and deep learning hybrid model for predicting the surface roughness of diamond-turned polycrystalline materials is proposed.The kinematic–dynamic roughness component in relation to the tool profile duplication effect,work material plastic side flow,relative vibration between the diamond tool and workpiece,etc,is theoretically calculated.The material-defect roughness component is modeled with a cascade forward neural network.In the neural network,the ratio of maximum undeformed chip thickness to cutting edge radius RT S,work material properties(misorientation angle θ_(g) and grain size d_(g)),and spindle rotation speed n s are configured as input variables.The material-defect roughness component is set as the output variable.To validate the developed model,polycrystalline copper with a gradient distribution of grains prepared by friction stir processing is machined with various processing parameters and different diamond tools.Compared with the previously developed model,obvious improvement in the prediction accuracy is observed with this hybrid prediction model.Based on this model,the influences of different factors on the surface roughness of polycrystalline materials are discussed.The influencing mechanism of the misorientation angle and grain size is quantitatively analyzed.Two fracture modes,including transcrystalline and intercrystalline fractures at different RTS values,are observed.Meanwhile,optimal processing parameters are obtained with a simulated annealing algorithm.Cutting experiments are performed with the optimal parameters,and a flat surface finish with Sa 1.314 nm is finally achieved.The developed model and corresponding new findings in this work are beneficial for accurately predicting the surface roughness of polycrystalline materials and understanding the impacting mechanism of material defects in diamond turning.

Improved Capon Estimator for High-Resolution DOA Estimation and Its Statistical Analysis

Despite some efforts and attempts have been made to improve the direction-of-arrival(DOA)estimation performance of the standard Capon beamformer(SCB)in array processing,rigorous statistical performance analyses of these modified Capon estimators are still lacking.This paper studies an improved Capon estimator(ICE)for estimating the DOAs of multiple uncorrelated narrowband signals,where the higherorder inverse(sample)array covariance matrix is used in the Capon-like cost function.By establishing the relationship between this nonparametric estimator and the parametric and classic subspace-based MUSIC(multiple signal classification),it is clarified that as long as the power order of the inverse covariance matrix is increased to reduce the influence of signal subspace components in the ICE,the estimation performance of the ICE becomes equivalent to that of the MUSIC regardless of the signal-to-noise ratio(SNR).Furthermore the statistical performance of the ICE is analyzed,and the large-sample mean-squared-error(MSE)expression of the estimated DOA is derived.Finally the effectiveness and the theoretical analysis of the ICE are substantiated through numerical examples,where the Cramer-Rao lower bound(CRB)is used to evaluate the validity of the derived asymptotic MSE expression.

HYDRO:Optimizing interactive hybrid images for digital signage content

Background In modern society,the digital signage installed in many large-scale facilities supports daily life.However,owing to their limited screen size,it is difficult to simultaneously provide different types of information to many viewers at varying distances from the screen.Therefore,in this study,we extend the existing research on the use of hybrid images for tiled displays.Methods To facilitate smoother information selection,a new interactive display method is proposed that incorporates touch-activated widgets as high-frequency parts of hybrid images.These widgets are novel because they are more visible to viewers near the display.We developed an authoring tool called the hybrid image display resolution optimizer(HYDRO),which features two types of control functions to optimize the visibility of touch-activated widgets in terms of placement and resolution.Conclusion The effectiveness of the proposed method is demonstrated empirically through a quantitative user study and an eyetracking-based qualitative evaluation.

Sunitinib-induced hyperammonemic encephalopathy in metastatic gastrointestinal stromal tumors:A case report

BACKGROUND Sunitinib,a multi-targeted tyrosine kinase inhibitor(TKI),has been approved for the salvage treatment of gastrointestinal stromal tumors(GIST).Hyperammonemic encephalopathy is a rare but severe complication of sunitinib use.Here,we present the case of a 66-year-old male with metastatic GIST without underlying liver cirrhosis who developed sunitinib-induced hyperammonemic encephalopathy.CASE SUMMARY A 66-year-old male with metastatic GIST was admitted because of reduced consciousness.Imatinib was administered as the first-line systemic therapy.He experienced repeated episodes of peritonitis due to tumor perforation,and surgery was performed.Progressive disease was confirmed based on increased liver metastasis,and sunitinib was initiated as a salvage treatment.However,23 d after the third course of sunitinib,he presented to the emergency room with an episode of altered consciousness and behavioral changes.Based on the patient clinical history and examination findings,sunitinib-induced encephalopathy was suspected.Sunitinib was discontinued,and the patient was treated for hyperammonemia.The patient had a normal level of consciousness four days later,and the serum ammonia level gradually decreased.No further neurological symptoms were reported in subsequent follow-ups.CONCLUSION TKI-induced hyperammonemic encephalopathy is potentially life-threatening.Patients receiving TKIs experiencing adverse reactions should undergo systemic evaluation and prompt treatment.

Financial literacy,behavioral traits,and ePayment adoption and usage in Japan

This study investigates how financial literacy and behavioral traits affect the adoption of electronic payment(ePayment)services in Japan.We construct a financial literacy index using a representative sample of 25,000 individuals from the Bank of Japan’s 2019 Financial Literacy Survey.We then analyze the relationship between this index and the extensive and intensive usage of two types of payment services:electronic money(e-money)and mobile payment apps.Using an instrumental variable approach,we find that higher financial literacy is positively associated with a higher likelihood of adopting ePayment services.The empirical results suggest that individuals with higher financial literacy use payment services more frequently.We also find that risk-averse people are less likely to adopt and use ePayment services,whereas people with herd behavior tend to adopt and use ePayment services more.Our empirical results also suggest that the effects of financial literacy on the adoption and use of ePayment differ among people with different behavioral traits.