Investigation of Factors Affecting Vertical Drain Behavior

Some influencing factors on vertical drain behavior were investigated by laboratory tests as well as by back-analyses of test embankments on vertical drain improved subsoil at Saga Airport, Saga, Japan. Based on the results from this study, suggestions are made on determining the design parameters for vertical drain improvement. For the discharge capacity test of a prefabricated vertical drain, confining the drain in clay is essential. Also, due to the creep of the filter and the clogging caused by the fine particles entering the drainage channel, the long-term discharge capacity is significantly smaller than the short-term one, and this should be considered in design. For smear effect, a new equation is proposed for determining the ratio of the hydraulic conductivity of the natural subsoil to that of the smear zone, which considers the fact that laboratory tests normally underestimate the hydraulic conductivity of natural deposits. Regarding the effect of the sand mat, the numerical analysis results in this study show that if the hydraulic conductivity of sand is larger than 10?4 m∕s, the assumption of a free drainage condition in the sand mat may not result in significant error. Finally, a methodology of predicting the behavior of vertical drain improved subsoil is proposed.     

The Need of Terahertz Cameras for Standardizing Sensitivity Measurements

The applicability of a blackbody source to sensitivity measurements and calibration of an uncooled Terahertz (THz) focal plane array (FPA) is discussed, but the combination of a blackbody source and a band-pass filter may not be suitable for these purposes. Two ways to measure the minimum detectable power (MDP) of uncooled THz-FPAs are described and compared when used with strong THz sources such as a quantum cascade laser (QCL). The MDP is defined as the radiant power that produces a signal-to-noise ratio of unity in the output of a THz imager that uses a THz-FPA operating at a TV frame rate. One method (method 1) is based on the hypothesis that the beam pattern of the THz source is close to a Gaussian pattern. In another method (method 2), the signal level of the background in an image that does not contain a THz source is subtracted from the signal of the image. While method 2 is more flexible, how large the signals coming from THz source should be, as compared with the noise level, remains to be defined. Finally, based on issues with the current non-uniformity correction (NUC) technique, specifications are proposed for THz source power and wobbling technique to obtain uniform illumination for an ideal NUC technique.     

The Safety and Anti-Tumor Effects of Ozonated Water in Vivo

Ozonated water is easier to handle than ozone gas. However, there have been no previous reports on the biological effects of ozonated water. We conducted a study on the safety of ozonated water and its anti-tumor effects using a tumor-bearing mouse model and normal controls. Local administration of ozonated water (208 mM) was not associated with any detrimental effects in normal tissues. On the other hand, local administration of ozonated water (20.8, 41.6, 104, or 208 mM) directly into the tumor tissue induced necrosis and inhibited proliferation of tumor cells. There was no significant difference in the number of terminal deoxynucleotidyl transferase-mediated deoxyuridine triphosphate-biotin nick-end labeling (TUNEL)-positive cells following administration of ozonated water. The size of the necrotic areas was dependent on the concentration of ozonated water. These results indicate that ozonated water does not affect normal tissue and damages only the tumor tissue by selectively inducing necrosis. There is a possibility that it exerts through the production of reaction oxygen species (ROS). In addition, the induction of necrosis rather than apoptosis is very useful in tumor immunity. Based on these results, we believe that administration of ozonated water is a safe and potentially simple adjunct or alternative to existing antineoplastic treatments.     

Gangliosides as Signaling Regulators in Cancer

At the plasma membrane, gangliosides, a group of glycosphingolipids, are expressed along with glycosphingolipids, phospholipids, and cholesterol in so-called lipid rafts that interact with signaling receptors and related molecules. Most cancers present abnormalities in the intracellular signal transduction system involved in tumor growth, invasion, and metastasis. To date, the roles of gangliosides as regulators of signal transduction have been reported in several cancer types. Gangliosides can be expressed by the exogenous ganglioside addition, with their endogenous expression regulated at the enzymatic level by targeting specific glycosyltransferases. Accordingly, the relationship between changes in the composition of cell surface gangliosides and signal transduction has been investigated by controlling ganglioside expression. In cancer cells, several types of signaling molecules are positively or negatively regulated by ganglioside expression levels, promoting malignant properties. Moreover, antibodies against gangliosides have been shown to possess cytotoxic effects on ganglioside-expressing cancer cells. In the present review, we highlight the involvement of gangliosides in the regulation of cancer cell signaling, and we explore possible therapies targeting ganglioside-expressing cancer.     

Adaptive Control of Partially Known Systems and Application To Active Suspensions

In this paper, an adaptive control method is proposed for systems whose structures can be divided into a known part and an unknown part. A non‐adaptive control design, such as H∞ control design can be introduced into the known part of the system, and adaptive control can cope with the unknown part to realize the property designed by non‐adaptive control. This is achieved by means of backstepping. This method is applied to the control design of an active suspension system for a railway vehicle, which is divided into two parts: a main car body part and an actuator part. Some simulation results of the control system designed using H∞ control for the body part and adaptive control for the actuator part are provided.     

Electron microscopic evaluation of the effects of stress-shielding on maturation of the mid-substance and ligament-bone junction of the reconstructed anterior cruciate ligament in rabbits

To analyze the effects of stress-shielding on graft maturation after the anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) reconstruction, autogenous ACL reconstruction using Achilles tendon was performed in rabbits. Two-end fixation with a ligament augmentation device (LAD), as a stress-shielding model (SS group), and pull-out fixation with Leeds-Keio artificial ligaments (L-K ligament), as a non-stress-shielding model (non-SS group), were investigated. Intact ACL was used as the control. Specimens were harvested 6 mon postoperatively, and the analysis was focused on collagen fibril maturation in the mid-substance and bone-anchoring pattern in the bone tunnel, under light and transmission electron microscopy. The density of collagen fibrils in the control was lower than that in both experimental groups (p<0.01). The per cent collagen area in the control was higher than that in the SS (p<0.01) and the non-SS group (p<0.01). The per cent collagen area in the non-SS group was higher than that in the SS group (p<0.05). At the ligament-bone interface, intracellular calcification of the degenerated chondrocytes occurred in the non-SS group, while in the SS group hydroxyapatite deposits were observed only in the extracellular matrix. These results show unfavorable influence of stress-shielding on graft maturation not only in the mid-substance but also at the ligament-bone junction. © 1999 Kluwer Academic Publishers     

Development of “Advanced TFT‐LCD” with good legibility under any ambient light intensity

A new LCD referred to as an “Advanced TFT‐LCD” has been developed. It consists of both transmissive and reflective electrodes in every pixel. Its subjective legibility and characteristics, such as contrast ratio, color gamut, and luminance, have been investigated at several ambient illumination intensities. As a result, it was confirmed that Advanced TFT‐LCDs offer better legibility than transmissive LCDs under any ambient illumination intensity.     

Invited Paper: Depth reproducibility of multiview depth‐fused 3‐D display

Abstract— A multi‐view depth‐fused 3‐D (DFD) display that provides smooth motion parallax for wide viewing angles is proposed. A conventional DFD display consists of a stack of two transparent emitting screens. It can produce motion parallax for small changes in observation angle, but its viewing zone is rather narrow due to the split images it provides in inclined views. On the other hand, even though multi‐view 3‐D displays have a wide viewing angle, motion parallax in them is discrete, depending on the number of views they show. By applying a stacked structure to multi‐view 3‐D displays, a wide‐viewing‐angle 3‐D display with smooth motion parallax was fabricated. Experimental results confirmed the viewing‐zone connection of DFD displays while the calculated results show the feasibility of stacked multi‐view displays.     

Defect structures in cosputtered thin films of transition-metal disilicides with C11<Subscript><Emphasis Type="Italic">b</Emphasis></Subscript>, C40 and C54 structures

Defect structures in crystallites of the stable phases in thin films of transition-metal (TM) disilicides (C11 _b MoSi₂, C40 TaSi₂, and C54 TiSi₂) produced by cosputtering and subsequent annealing have been investigated by transmission electron microscopy (TEM). Crystallites in thin films of MoSi₂, TaSi₂, and TiSi₂ all contain planar faults parallel to hexagonally arranged TMSi₂ planes, which are a characteristic feature commonly observed in all three crystal structures. These planar faults are twin boundaries in all cases. Twins in thin films of these disilicides, thus, have a common characteristic that the twin habit plane is parallel to hexagonally arranged TMSi₂ stoichiometric planes. For twins in thin films of C11 _b MoSi₂, and C54 TiSi₂, the twining elements can be deduced and the twin habit plane is found not to be parallel to the twinning (K ₁) plane, but to be perpendicular to it. Twins formed in C40 TaSi₂ thin films are different from those formed in C11 _b MoSi₂ and C54 TiSi₂ thin films, in that the crystal orientation of the twin is exactly the same as that of the matrix, since they are racemic twins that are only enantiomorphically (space groups of P6₂22 or P6₄22) related to each other. This article is based on a presentation in the symposium “Terence E. Mitchell Symposium on the Magic of Materials: Structures and Properties” from the TMS Annual Meeting in San Diego, CA in March 2003.