Barrier free access improvement work and aseismatic reinforcement work are often performed in tandem. In conventional aseismatic reinforcement, there generally has been installation of braces. JR East undertook developing a new aseismatic mechanism that uses escalators. The decision to perform this work used as its basis the concept of minimizing obstruction to existing buildings by substituting escalators installed in improvement projects in lieu of adding new braces. JR East uses escalator truss frames and escalator behavior and performance (using a full size aseismatic escalator) analysis to confirm behavior in this study. That the developed aseismatic escalator can sufficiently perform as an aseismatic structural member (in structures such over-track station buildings) has been confirmed through study results.
This research showed the expansion behavior of prestressed concrete beam deteriorated by alkali-silica reaction under long term exposure test by the follow-up survey over about four years. The main results are as follows. Expansion of the cracks became remarkable at the time of the high temperature of summer, and it was almost changeless in winter. Compared with the strain of concrete surface of upper edge of axial direction, strain of vertical direction and upper edge of right-angle direction was large. The strain of the stirrups exceeded a yield strain greatly. The compressive strength of the test piece of concrete deteriorated to about 80% of the maximum, and the elastic modulus deteriorated to about 30% of the maximum.
Scope Ferulic acid (FA), a natural phenolic phytochemical abundantly present in whole grains, herbs, and dried fruits, exhibits anti‐inflammatory, antioxidant, and neuroprotective effects. In the present study, the antidepressant‐like effects of FA in male ICR mice using tail suspension test (TST) are investigated and its molecular mechanisms are explored. Methods and Results Oral administration of FA at a dose of 5 mg kg –1 for 7 days significantly reduces immobility of mice compared to vehicle‐administered control group. Microarray and real‐time PCR analyses reveal that FA upregulates the expression of several genes associated with cell survival and proliferation, energy metabolism, and dopamine synthesis in mice limbic system of brain. Interestingly, it is found that FA, unlike antidepressant drug bupropion, strongly promotes energy metabolism. Additionally, FA increases catecholamine (dopamine and noradrenaline), brain‐derived neurotrophic factor, and ATP levels, and decreases glycogen levels in the limbic system of the mice brain. Conclusion The research provides the first evidence that FA enhances energy production, which can be the underlying mechanism of the antidepressant‐like effects of FA observed in this study.
Age-related biological alterations in brain function increase the risk of mild cognitive impairment and dementia, a global problem exacerbated by aging populations in developed nations. Limited pharmacological therapies have resulted in attention turning to the promising role of medicinal plants and dietary supplements in the treatment and prevention of dementia. Sugarcane (Saccharum officinarum L.) top, largely considered as a by-product because of its low sugar content, in fact contains the most abundant amounts of antioxidant polyphenols relative to the rest of the plant. Given the numerous epidemiological studies on the effects of polyphenols on cognitive function, in this study, we analyzed polyphenolic constituents of sugarcane top and examined the effect of sugarcane top ethanolic extract (STEE) on a range of central nervous system functions in vitro and in vivo. Orally administrated STEE rescued spatial learning and memory deficit in the senescence-accelerated mouse prone 8 (SAMP8) mice, a non-transgenic strain that spontaneously develops a multisystemic aging phenotype including pathological features of Alzheimer's disease. This could be correlated with an increased number of hippocampal newborn neurons and restoration of cortical monoamine levels in STEE-fed SAMP8 mice. Global genomic analysis by microarray in cerebral cortices showed multiple potential mechanisms for the cognitive improvement. Gene set enrichment analysis (GSEA) revealed biological processes such as neurogenesis, neuron differentiation, and neuron development were significantly enriched in STEE-fed mice brain compared to nontreated SAMP8 mice. Furthermore, STEE treatment significantly regulated genes involved in neurotrophin signaling, glucose metabolism, and neural development in mice brain. Our in vitro results suggest that STEE treatment enhances the metabolic activity of neuronal cells promoting glucose metabolism with significant upregulation of genes, namely PGK1, PGAM1, PKM, and PC. STEE also stimulated proliferation of human neural stem cells (hNSCs), regulated bHLH factor expression and induced neuronal differentiation and astrocytic process lengthening. Altogether, our findings suggest the potential of STEE as a dietary intervention, with promising implications as a novel nutraceutical for cognitive health.
The purpose of this study was to investigate the effect of repeated harvesting on the content of caffeic acid (CA) and seven species of caffeoylquinic acids (CQAs) in sweet potato leaves using a newly developed high-performance liquid chromatography method. Six cultivars and two breeding lines were used in this study. Leaves were collected at monthly intervals from 1st harvest (May) to 4th harvest (August) in 2011 and 2012. ANOVA analysis revealed that the contents of CQAs were significantly different among all cultivars and breeding lines, but no significant differences were found for CA. No annual variation was confirmed in CA and CQAs. Repeated harvest of sweet potato leaves affected the content of only 4-CQA and 5-CQA. Post-hoc comparisons using Tukey's method indicated that the contents of 4-CQA and 5-CQA in sweet potato leaves harvested at first time were significantly higher compared to those at the other harvest times.
The operational safety in nuclear power plants depends strongly on man machine interfaces (MMI), such as assignment of equipment on control boards and operation procedures in emergency situations. Therefore, the evaluation and analysis methods for the MMI are important. In order for the methods to be practical, the methods should be executed in each step of design and be easy for designers to use.We aim to develop SEAMAID system: a computer supported system for evaluating and analyzing the MMI by simulating the interaction between the operator and the machine. In this paper, we discuss problems of the conventional methods and the required functions of the operator simulator for the SEAMAID. The operator simulator executes not human errors but correct behavior which follows the operational procedure. The SEAMAID evaluates the MMI by finding potential human errors which could occur in the simulated interactions and points out the problematic interaction parts which could induce human errors.We construct the operator simulator by combining the human model which was proposed by Prof. Reason, and the knowledge base model based on the Petri net model. This simulator can treat frequency parameter which represents the degree of frequency of using a certain knowledge.We conduct two sample simulations in different frequency parameters in the same scenario. These simulation results show that even if the operator behaves correctly following the procedure, there are alternative task sequences. We verify that the simulated interactions are in good agreement with the actual one. Also, we propose the method to point out the problematic parts in the interactions based on the working memory consumption.
