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This paper describes a case in which no complete demolishment was observed in a geofoam (expanded polystyrene foam EPS) embankment. Used for local roads situated over active faults at a mountainous site in Mashiki Town, Kumamoto, Japan, the EPS withstood two successive strong earthquakes that struck Kumamoto and Oita prefectures in 2015. The EPS blocks of this EPS embankment were markedly shifted sideways both horizontally and vertically because earthquake-caused landslides occurred behind the EPS fills. Nevertheless, only a part of the EPS embankment collapsed, causing no damage to the temple nearby. Thereafter, the road surface was remediated temporarily immediately after the earthquakes and was maintained for the opening of traffic. This case demonstrates that EPS presents great benefits: most importantly, the partly collapsed EPS road was put into practical use as a temporary road supporting the daily life of local residents. This report describes an engineering perspective of why the road was not collapsed completely. Future issues to be considered by local governments and engineering institutions are explained for the preparation of great earthquake countermeasures. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Aim The effects of heat shock transcription factor 1 ( HSF1) deficiency on the fibre type composition and the expression level of nuclear factor of activated T cells ( NFAT) family members ( NFATc1, NFATc2, NFATc3 and NFATc4), phosphorylated glycogen synthase kinase 3 α (p- GSK3 α) and p- GSK3 β, micro RNA-208b (miR-208b), miR-499 and slow myosin heavy chain (My HC) m RNAs (Myh7 and Myh7b) of antigravitational soleus muscle in response to unloading with or without reloading were investigated. Methods HSF1-null and wild-type mice were subjected to continuous 2-week hindlimb suspension followed by 2- or 4-week ambulation recovery. Results In wild-type mice, the relative population of slow type I fibres, the expression level of NFATc2, p- GSK3 ( α and β), miR-208b, miR-499 and slow My HC m RNAs (Myh7 and Myh7b) were all decreased with hindlimb suspension, but recovered after it. Significant interactions between train and time (the relative population of slow type I fibres; P = 0.01, the expression level of NFATc2; P = 0.001, p- GSK β; P = 0.009, miR-208b; P = 0.002, miR-499; P = 0.04) suggested that these responses were suppressed in HSF1-null mice. Conclusion HSF1 may be a molecule in the regulation of the expression of slow My HC as well as miR-208b, miR-499, NFATc2 and p- GSK3 ( α and β) in mouse soleus muscle. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective: To identify the effects of an automated stride assistance system (SAS) on walking scores and muscle activities in the lower extremities of elderly people. Methods: Seven healthy elderly men (73-81 years) participated in this study. Subjects walked continuously at a constant speed for 50 min on a treadmill with and without the SAS, which is a device to control the walk ratio (step length/cadence) and to add support power to the thigh during walking. A step counter equipped with an infrared device was used to record walking data. The average speeds during treadmill walking were 2.89-3.82 km/h without the SAS and 3.03-4.03 km/h with the SAS. Positron emission tomography (PET) and [18F]fluorodeoxyglucose (FDG) evaluation of glucose metabolism were conducted on each subject twice after walking with and without the SAS. Results: Walk ratio, walking speed and step length were significantly improved in all subjects by the SAS, while cadence was significantly decreased by the SAS in all subjects except one. The SAS did not have a significant effect on glucose metabolism of the muscles of the lower extremities. There were no significant correlations between change in walking speed and change in glucose metabolism in each muscle without the SAS and with the SAS. In contrast, significant correlations between walking speed and glucose metabolism were shown in gluteus minimus (r = -0.929), hip-related muscles (r = -0.862), soleus (r = -0.907), and medial gastrocnemius (r = -0.952) without the SAS. With the SAS, there were significant correlations in gluteus medius (r = -0.899), hip-related muscles (r = -0.819), and medial gastrocnemius (r = -0.817) in the elderly subjects. Conclusions: The SAS increases walking scores in elderly people without increasing energy consumption of lower-extremity muscles. The elderly subjects with low walking speed showed higher glucose metabolism in hip-related muscles and triceps surae. Thus, this association suggested that decreased walking speed in elderly adults has a higher metabolic cost in these muscle regions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The increasing infrastructure instability is an important issue in relation to the influences of global climate change in urban areas. A serious issue pertaining to this is the dual nature of damage triggered by events combined with climate change and natural hazards. For example, catastrophic damage could result from the combination of global warming with a great earthquake, which is a worst-case scenario. Although this worst-case scenario has rarely occurred and presents a low probability of occurrence, countermeasures must be prepared in advance based on an appropriate response and adaptation strategies. After an overview of possible infrastructural instabilities caused by global warming, methodologies are proposed placing emphasis on the increasing probability of infrastructural instability triggered by natural hazards resulting from groundwater-level (GWL) variations. These effects are expected to be particularly serious in coastal regions because of the influence of the rising sea level resulting from global warming. The influence of sea-level rises (SLR) will become apparent along with land subsidence because groundwater abstraction will become severe in coastal regions. Additionally, the probability of earthquake liquefaction increases if GWL rises in accompaniment with SLR. Using case histories, we examined the possible occurrence of these natural hazards as a result of global warming. Finally, possible countermeasures and adaptation strategies for reducing and mitigating infrastructure damage accelerated by global warming are described for each case in specific regions. In particular, special attention should be paid to adaptation strategies in coastal lowlands, which particularly suffer from the effects of land subsidence. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In order to examine whether kojic acid (KA) exerts a promoting effect on thyroid carcinogenesis, male F344 rats were initiated with N-bis(2-hydroxypropyl)nitrosamine (BHP; 2800 mg/kg body wt, single s.c. injection) and, starting 1 week later, received pulverized basal diet containing 2 or 0% KA for 12 weeks. Untreated control rats were given basal diet for 13 weeks. As an additional experiment, two groups without BHP initiation received basal diet or diet containing 2% KA for 20 weeks. The serum triiodothyronine (T3) and thyroxine (T4) levels were significantly decreased (half to one-third of values of the BHP alone group) and serum thyroid-stimulating hormone (TSH) was markedly increased (13-19 times higher than the values of the BHP-alone group) in the BHP + KA group at weeks 4 and 12. Similar changes in serum thyroid-related hormones were observed in the group with 2% KA alone at week 4, but not at week 20. Thyroid weights were significantly increased in the BHP + KA and KA-alone groups. Focal thyroid follicular hyperplasias and adenomas were observed in 4/5 and 3/5 rats in the BHP + KA group at week 4, respectively. At weeks 12, these lesions were observed in either the BHP alone or the untreated control groups. Measurement of liver T4-uridine diphosphate glucuronosyltransferase (UDP-GT) activity at week 4 revealed no significant intergroup differences. These results suggest that thyroid proliferative lesions were induced by KA administration due to continuous serum TSH stimulation through the negative feedback mechanism of the pituitary-thyroid axis, with decreases of T3 and T4 caused by a mechanism independent of T4-UDP-GT activity. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Changes observed in lympho-hematopoietic organs in rats given piperonyl butoxide may be attributable either to direct toxic effects or to undernutrition. Male F344 rats were therefore fed diet containing 2.5% piperonyl butoxide or subjected to a 64% restriction of food intake for 2 weeks. Marked inhibition of body weight gain, decreased white blood cell count, depletion of T/B lymphocytes in lymphoid tissues, hypoplasia of the bone marrow, and decreased proliferating cell nuclear antigen (PCNA) labeling indices in these tissues were seen in both dietary restriction and 2.5% piperonyl butoxide groups. The depletion of T lymphocytes in the thymus and spleen was stronger in the 2.5% piperonyl butoxide group, as indicated by PCNA labeling indices and image analysis of T lymphocyte areas of the spleen, however, the toxicological profile observed for the chemically treated group was essentially the same as for animals on the restricted diet. These results suggest that the lympho-hematopoietic findings in rats receiving 2.5% piperonyl butoxide are probably due to undernutrition resulting from a reduced food intake. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Among the extensive infrastructure collapses which resulted from the cataclysmic earthquake that struck off the eastern coast of Japan on March 11, 2011, long-term settlement and deformation of clay deposits during the earthquakes has sometimes been overlooked. This paper describes a case history of post-earthquake settlement of clay deposits underlying river dykes and their adjacent residences. Particularly, an attempt is made to assess reactive countermeasures designed to mitigate damage from such settlement and deformation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This report presents carbon dioxide (CO2) fixation properties of an iron and steel slag containing calcium, in order to contribute to a geotechnical application for the formation of a sound material-cycle society and a low-carbon society. To investigate the properties of CO2 fixation, CO2 fixation tests with constant flow were conducted. Results show that when the CO2 concentration 4500 μL- CO2/L was flowed in a specimen by 0.05 L/min, for a non-aged steelmaking slag, the amount of CO2 fixed was the maximum: 0.04 g- CO2/g-slag. The amount of CO2 fixed in the steelmaking slag resulted from about 20% of soluble calcium in the chemical reaction. Therefore, it is possible that the quantity of CO2 fixation can be evaluated from the viewpoint of the mechanism of CO2 fixation using the quantity of water-soluble calcium. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Japan is an area affected strongly by land surface upheaval and by climate change instability. Background evidence of increasing and magnifying geo-disasters includes the following: (i) frequent and extremely severe torrential rainfall; (ii) high and increasing frequency of strong earthquakes (5+ and 6- as the Japan Meteorological Agency seismic intensity scale); and (iii) typhoons with magnified damage effects. Based on a review of that information stated above, an attempt has been made to overview the present situation and future trends of geo-disasters in the context of climate change and to present possible adaptive measures against disasters. Particularly, emphasis is assigned to the importance of the combined effects of plural events, which increases the probability of extreme events, sometimes triggering devastating consequences. Adaptive measures against climate change-associated geo-disasters are presented by classification into software and hardware. Special emphasis is devoted to the availability of information and communication technology (ICT) and information, communication and robot technology (ICRT) involving devices such as IC-sensors and Un-crewed Aerial Vehicles (UAV, drones), which are useful in early warning systems and in simple monitoring systems. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]