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Background Outcome selection in intervention studies is a critical issue for synthesizing evidence. This study is aimed to investigate outcomes used in Cochrane reviews assessing community‐based psychosocial interventions for adults with severe mental illness. Methods Cochrane reviews that evaluated a community‐based psychosocial intervention for adults with severe mental illness were searched electronically and manually. We extracted all outcomes specified in the Methods section in each Cochrane review. Outcomes that represent the same concept and context were synthesized into an outcome term. Outcome terms were categorized according to the existing taxonomy. Results We included 33 Cochrane reviews. Of the 216 outcome terms identified, 13 were used in more than half of the reviews: quality of life, mental state, admission to hospital, economic outcome, leaving the study early, social functioning, satisfaction, global state, relapse, adverse events/effects, carer satisfaction, employment, and duration of admission. Most outcome terms were categorized into the life impact core area (55%), followed by the resource use area (21%). Conclusions Our study provides a candidate outcome list for developing a core outcome set for severe mental illness and offers a basis for comparison for future outcome investigation on mental health research., Two hundred and sixteen outcome terms were found by investigating all the outcomes used in 33 Cochrane reviews assessing community‐based psychosocial interventions for adults with severe mental illness. Thirteen outcome terms were used in more than half of the reviews: quality of life, mental state, admission to hospital, economic outcome, leaving the study early, social functioning, satisfaction, global state, relapse, adverse events/effects, carer satisfaction, employment, and duration of admission.

Aims The purpose of this study was to retrospectively investigate care difficulties experienced by caregivers of people with schizophrenia during COVID‐19 pandemic lockdowns in Japan (April 7‐May 25, 2020) and examine associations between these care difficulties during lockdowns and daily caregiver burden. Methods Data were collected from 132 participants of the LINE Schizophrenia Family Association using an online survey. Results Caregivers were mostly concerned about who would care for people with schizophrenia if caregivers become infected with COVID‐19. A significant association was found between higher daily caregiver burden and more difficult care experiences during COVID‐19 pandemic lockdowns (B = 0.58, 95% confidence interval, 0.40‐0.75, P, This study showed care difficulties experienced by caregivers of people with schizophrenia during COVID‐19 pandemic lockdowns in Japan and its association with daily caregiver burden.

This paper reports the development of a vibration monitoring system for wind turbine blades. This system is used to estimate the deflection at the tip blade on a wind turbine tower. Technical accidents of wind turbine blades have become increasingly common. Thus, regular monitoring of the blades is very important to prevent breakdowns, especially in cases when the blades begin to vibrate excessively. The monitoring system developed in this study satisfies two main objectives for practicality. First, our system is easy to install on existing wind turbines. Second, blade deflection is measured in real time. Our system can be operated using a few strain gages attached at the blade root, and the deflection is calculated based on the monitored stress. Thus, direct measurement of deflection at the blade tip is unnecessary. An estimation algorithm for this purpose is adopted based on the experimental modal analysis. This paper focuses on the evaluation of the estimation algorithm to investigate the feasibility of our system. Basic experiments were conducted using a simple blade model of a 300 W scaled wind turbine under rotation. Signals from the strain gages were acquired by a sensor network and sent to a computer through a wireless connection. The results show that the estimation accuracy is acceptably high. Therefore, we conclude that our proposed system is practical.

The bending stiffness of the wind turbine blades has decreased due to the trend of wind turbine upsizing. Consequently, the risk of blades breakage by hitting the tower has increased. In order to prevent such incidents, this study proposes a deflection monitoring system that can be installed to already operating wind turbine's blades. The monitoring system is composed of an estimation algorithm to detect blade deflection and a wireless sensor network as a hardware equipment. As for the estimation method for blade deflection, a strain-based estimation algorithm and an objective function for optimal sensor arrangement are proposed. Strain-based estimation algorithm is using a linear correlation between strain and deflections, which can be expressed in a form of a transformation matrix. The objective function includes the terms of strain sensitivity and condition number of the transformation matrix between strain and deflection. In order to calculate the objective function, a simplified experimental model of the blade is constructed by interpolating the mode shape of a blade from modal testing. The interpolation method is effective considering a practical use to operating wind turbines' blades since it is not necessary to establish a finite element model of a blade. On the other hand, a sensor network with wireless connection with an open source hardware is developed. It is installed to a 300 W scale wind turbine and vibration of the blade on operation is investigated.

Based on the bender element (BE) international parallel tests, conducted from 2003 to 2005 using Toyoura sand, a standard test method for BE tests was proposed by Yamashita et al. (2009). The proposed method showed that any of the different identification methods would give a comparable travel time if the frequency of the transmitted wave were approximately equal to the frequency of the received wave. The proposed test method, however, did not show any specific procedure for choosing the input frequencies or for calculating the travel time. In the present study, therefore, with reference to the results from several previous studies on BE testing, a conditional expression for determining the input frequency and a calculation formula for the travel time have been defined, and BE testing using 13 different sandy and clayey soils has been conducted. After the testing, it was confirmed that the testing method is able to determine the shear wave velocity of sandy and clayey soils having widely different stiffnesses. Furthermore, the study has found that a reevaluation of the International Parallel Test results using this method has resulted in less variation as compared to the results from the reevaluation by Yamashita et al. (2009). This method is recommended in the "Method for laboratory measurement of shear wave velocity of soils by bender element test" standardized by the Japanese Geotechnical Society (JGS) in 2011 (Japanese Geotechnical Society, 2011).

[Purpose] The purpose of this study was to assess the relationships between bilateral knee extension strengths and gait performance in subjects with poststroke hemiparesis and to predict gait performance by the paretic and nonparetic knee extension strength. [Subjects and Methods] This was a correlational study in which 238 consecutive inpatients with poststroke hemiparesis were enrolled. Knee extensor muscle strengths in paretic and nonparetic lower limbs were measured with a handheld dynamometer, and the presence or absence of impaired gait was also determined. [Results] The mean strength in the paretic lower limb was 0.90 Nm/kg, and that in the nonparetic lower limb was 1.24 Nm/kg. Discriminant analysis classified the difference between the possibility and impossibility of gait by knee extensor muscle strength (standardized discriminant coefficient: paretic, 1.32; nonparetic, 0.55). Thus, paretic and nonparetic knee extension strengths were integrated in the strength index. A threshold level of 2.0 provided the best balance between positive and negative predictive values for the strength index. [Conclusion] The results indicated that both paretic and nonparetic knee extension strengths were related to gait performance. The strength index deduced from bilateral knee extension strengths may serve as a clinically meaningful index for rehabilitation assessment and training.

SUMMARY This paper presents a new control method for wind turbine groups by use of dynamic control including pump-up operation. Under conditions of oscillating wind below the rated speed of the wind turbine, maximum power point tracking (MPPT) operation is critical to improving efficiency. Even though, owing to the huge inertia of a wind turbine, the operating point of the wind turbine produces an unavoidable delay at the maximum power point, if dynamic control is used wind turbines respond to the changes in the wind speed more rapidly. The wind turbines hence reach the maximum power point quickly and capture energy from the wind more efficiently. On the other hand, as a result of dynamic operation, the output from a wind turbine fluctuates more severely than during normal operation. In the proposed solution, by taking advantage of the kinematic energy stored in other wind turbines that belong to the same wind farm, not only the efficiency of output power but also the severity of the fluctuations is improved. In the results of simulations, group dynamic operation enables wind farms to improve their efficiency and smooth the output fluctuations from the wind farm.

Primary and secondary submovements are important in human movements. The purpose of this study was to examine the time course of changes in kinematics and electromyography (EMG) parameters for primary and secondary submovements associated with the learning of a goal-directed aiming movement task. The subjects comprised 9 neurologically normal adults. They were instructed to make horizontal planar movements of elbow flexion that were both fast and accurate. The learning session comprised 20 blocks of 10 movements. Our research found that the kinematics- and EMG-related parameters of the antagonistic triceps brachii muscle gradually changed over the course of the learning period and reached a plateau that fitted an exponential function. However, the EMG parameters of the agonistic biceps brachii muscle did not markedly change. Moreover, the kinematics- and EMG-related parameters for the primary and secondary submovements varied at different rates during the motor learning. Our findings may facilitate the understanding of the learning of a goal-directed aiming movement in sports and rehabilitation settings.

This paper proposes a novel current link topology with a diode rectifier and magnetic energy recovery switch (MERS) using a current source inverter for offshore-wind-farm application. Despite the use of a diode rectifier, the proposed topology is capable of regulating individual turbine torque partially. Because offshore wind condition is more stable and has less turbulence intensity (typically 0.08) than that of onshore wind, the individual full-range controllability realized typically by pulse-controlled converters is not necessary. Instead of them, the proposed scheme, a diode rectifier with MERS, has only partial controllability of the individual generator torque which is estimated to be sufficient to achieve the maximum power point tracking operation for offshore-wind-farm application. The proposed topology is aiming to be applicable for offshore wind farms where maintenance reduction is conclusively a critical issue because of the inaccessibility. In this paper, experimental results represent the effectiveness of the topology. Moreover, a new control strategy for offshore wind farms with the proposed topology is also proposed.

The rapid development of wind energy in Japan and the associated high uncertainties and fluctuations in power generation present a big challenge for both wind power generators and electric grids. Accurate and reliable wind power predictions are necessary to optimize the integration of wind power into existing electrical systems. In this study, a hybrid forecasting system of wind power generation was developed by integrating the Kalman filter (KF) with the high resolution Weather Research and Forecasting (WRF) model as well as an empirical formula of wind power output (power curve). The system has been validated with observations including wind speed and power output over a six-month period for 15 turbine sites at a wind farm in Awaji-island, Japan. The results show that the tuned WRF model is able to provide hub-height wind speed prediction for the target area with reliability to some extent. The predicted wind field can be substantially improved by the Kalman filter as a post-processing procedure. The 15-turbine averaged improvements of mean error, root mean square error, and correlation coefficient are 97%, 22%, and 10%, respectively. Meanwhile, the Kalman filter also demonstrates a promising capability of reducing the uncertainties in the power curve model. Systematic validations regarding both wind speed and power output were carried out against the observations for the target wind farm, which show that the hybrid power forecasting system presented in this paper can be an effective and practical tool for short-term predictions of wind speed and power output in Japan area.

This report summarizes the results of international parallel test on the measurement of the elastic shear modulus at very small strains, Gmax, using bender elements which was carried out from 2003 to 2005 by technical committee, TC29 (Stress-strain and Strength Testing of Geomaterials) of the International Society of Soil Mechanics and Geotechnical Engineering. The purpose was to evaluate the consistency of the bender element test results obtained by applying the exactly similar test material as well as the test method besides identifying the various existing hardware and software being used in this test. It was decided that the domestic TC29 group of Japanese Geotechnical Society (TC29-JGS) was expected to lead this international co-operation. By 2005, reports of the test results were obtained from 23 institutions from 11 countries. This report has been prepared by TC29-JGS taking a leading role from the beginning. A standard test method is proposed here in order to obtain more accurate data from the bender element test by examining various test methods adopted at different institutions worldwide and the effects of various factors on the test results.

The elastic shear modulus of natural sedimentary clay ground, Gmax, is estimated based on laboratory tests for fifteen different reconstituted clays. Two types of tests were performed, i.e., Bender Element and Cyclic Triaxial tests. The proposed formulation is not based on void ratio, e, but consists of only three parameters: wL (liquid limit), p′ (the current mean effective stress) and p′max (the maximum mean consolidation pressure). To apply it to the field, this equation is modified for using σ′v0 (the in situ effective overburden pressure) and OCR, instead of p′ and p′max. Since existing formulae for Gmax are mostly based on e, they are not able to apply to both reconstituted soil and field, without considering the correction factor for structure. This is because e in the field is much larger than that for reconstituted soil even though their consolidation pressures and OCR are the same for these clays. The applicability of the proposed formula was examined by using investigated results from the in-situ seismic surveys performed at eleven worldwide sites. It is well demonstrated that the proposed equation in this paper is capable of predicting Gmax of natural sedimentary clay deposits with higher accuracy than the existing empirical formulae using a function of e.

s / Brain Stimulation 8 (2015) 326e342 339 can be challenging, however. The conventional “5 cm rule” misses DLPFC in >1/3 cases. An alternative heuristic, BeamF3, applies a mathematical formula to scalp measurements to locate the F3 EEG site for DLPFC-rTMS. A more elaborate approach uses MRI neuronavigation to target a specific DLPFC stereotaxic coordinate. The concordance between these latter two approaches has not previously been assessed. Objective: To quantify the discrepancy in scalp target location between that obtained using the BeamF3 heuristic vs. MRI-guided neuronavigation for the left DLPFC. Methods: We examined MRIs from n1⁄4100 subjects in a clinical trial of MRI-guided left DLPFC-rTMS. Using Visor 2.0 software, in each subject, we localized the scalp site at minimum Euclidean distance from the target MNI coordinate (X-38 Y+44 Z+26) previously identified as optimal based on clinical efficacy (Fox et al., 2012). We then used Osirix 5.9 software to perform nasion-inion, tragus-tragus, and head circumference measurements on the same subjects’MRIs, and applied the BeamF3 formula.We thenmeasured the geodesic distance between Beam-F3 and MRI-guided scalp sites. Results: BeamF3-to-MRI-guided discrepancies were 0.0001), by 3.5mm 0.65 (SEM). Conclusions: In settings where MRI is unavailable or impractical due to cost or access limitations, the BeamF3 heuristic provides a reasonable approximation to MRI-guided neuronavigation for locating left DLPFC in a majority of subjects. A minor optimization of the heuristic may yield additional concordance.

Purpose: The purpose of the present study was to evaluate the antitumor activity and pharmacokinetic profile of MEN4901/T-0128 in nude mice bearing human tumor xenografts in comparison with irinotecan (CPT-11) and T-2513. Experimental Design: We have determined the antitumor activity of MEN4901/T-0128, CPT-11, and T-2513 in BALB/cA Jcl nude mice bearing human gastric (H-81), colon (H-110), lung (Mqnu-1, H-74), esophageal (H-204), liver (H-181), and pancreatic (H-48) cancer lines, which had been serially transplanted s.c. and maintained in nude mice, and characterized the pharmacokinetic profile of MEN4901/T-0128 in nude mice bearing human gastric carcinoma St-4. Results: MEN4901/T-0128 administered i.v. showed a marked antitumor activity in each of these tumor models, producing tumor shrinkage in the models of H-204 and H-181 carcinomas at its maximum tolerated dose of 80 mg/kg (expressed as T-2513) weekly for 4 weeks (q7d × 4) and tumor-shrinking or marked growth-inhibitory effects in the models of H-81, H-110, Mqnu-1, H-74, and H-48 carcinomas at 1/3 of its maximum tolerated dose (q7d × 4). Pharmacokinetic analysis showed that MEN4901/T-0128 had an extended plasma half-life with sustained tumor levels of T-2513, which may explain the superior activity of MEN4901/T-0128 in vivo. Conclusions: Because the efficacies of some drugs in this human cancer-nude mouse panel correlated well with their clinical outcomes in patients with the same type of cancers, the findings provide direct support that MEN4901/T-0128 is more efficacious than CPT-11 and is an excellent candidate for clinical trials for the treatment of solid tumors.

We report a patient with diabetic endstage renal disease with an initial platelet count of 17.6 x 10(4)/mm3 who developed type-II heparin-induced thrombocytopenia (HIT) during the induction period of hemodialysis (HD) when unfractionated heparin was used. Because the recognition of the condition and the treatment of this patient with HIT was unsatisfactory, she developed deep venous thrombosis, myocardial infarction, and occlusion of vascular access, at times of platelet counts of 4.1 x 10(4), 7.7 x 10(4), and 6.4 x 10(4)/mm3, respectively, with antibodies to heparin/platelet factor 4 complex. Unfortunately, we misjudged in our belief that the thromboembolic events might be associated with an underlying procoagulant state in diabetic nephrotic syndrome, rather than being associated with the clinical picture of HIT. This case report suggests that the clinician must consider HIT in the differential diagnosis for thromboembolic complications during the induction period of HD, because unfractionated heparin is the major anticoagulant used in HD.

ヘパリン起因性血小板減少症 (HIT) は本邦でも最近になって認知されるようになってきたが, 依然その認知度は低い. 今回われわれは, 糖尿病性腎症の透析患者の導入期に, 回路内凝血を繰り返したHITの1症例を経験したため報告する. 症例は69歳, 男性. 糖尿病性腎不全により, 平成13年12月3日血液透析導入となる. 血小板数はHD導入日19.8万/mm3であったが, HD導入後2週間目には9.7万/mm3と減少していた. ダイアライザー内凝血は著しく, 生食およびヘパリン加生食フラッシュで回路内を洗浄しHDを維持したが, ダイアライザー交換を頻回に要した. 透析膜変更やヘパリン増量, nafamostat mesilate (FUT) や低分子ヘパリンに抗凝固剤を変更するも回路内凝血は同様であった. 胃癌手術後血栓性静脈炎を併発した (FUT単独使用時). 抗PF4・ヘパリン抗体陽性であり, HITと診断した. 現在warfarin内服とFUT併用で回路内凝血なくHDを行っている. 血小板機能および血管内皮機能不全を持つ糖尿病性腎症による透析患者の増加は, 今後HIT患者の増加をもたらす可能性がある. ヘパリンを日常的に使用する透析医療従事者はHITという病態の認識をすべきであり, 早期発見および適切なる治療法の確立により, 致死的な血栓合併症を防止することが肝要である. HIT管理の基礎はあらゆる形態でのヘパリン投与の中止と代わりの抗凝固療法の開始である. 透析患者にHITが発症した場合, 最も理想的な抗トロンビン薬であるargatrobanが本邦では承認されておらず, 今後の課題と考える.

This paper presents a simple rectifier configuration for SCIG (squirrel cage induction generator) applied to variable speed wind turbines. The proposed rectifier consists of a diode rectifier and a series reactive power compensator named MERS. Advantages of this configuration are reduced active semi-conductor device rating needed and line frequency switching operation of the series compensator. Experimental results with a 1.5 kW SCIG are shown.

Hypoglycemia is fatal if associated with sepsis in end-stage renal disease (ESRD) patients. We report a hemodialysis patient of streptococcal toxic shock syndrome presenting with hypoglycemia. She was found to be severely hypoglycemic with a plasma glucose level of 16 mg/dl. Immunoreactive insulin levels were undetectable throughout the clinical course. Several factors including reduced renal gluconeogenesis, reduced hepatic glucose output and excessive peripheral glucose utilization may account for the hypoglycemia in this patient. In conclusion, we would like to draw attention to the fact that septic ESRD patients without diabetes are prone to develop profound hypoglycemia with serious consequences.

Multipole (gearless) PMSG is one of the most promissing wind turbine generation system for multi-megawatt range, because of its high efficiency and low maintenance advantage. In this digest, the current link topology based wind turbine generation system with simple diode rectifier using MERS (Magnetic Energy Recovery Switch) is proposed. Although diode rectifier is more simple, more robust and inexpensive than active rectifier, the diode rectifier alone is incapable to control the reacvtive power. Thus in this digest the wind energy conversion system with the diode rectifier using MERS is proposed. MERS here functions as a variable capacitor and enables the torque of the generator to be controllable, so that maximum power tracking operation corresponding wind speed change is realized by MERS control. This proposed system possesses several prominent advantages which are presented below.

The antimetastatic activity of a novel camptothecan conjugate, MEN4901/T-0128, in which 7-ethyl-10-aminopropyloxy-camptothecin (T-2513) is bound to a biodegradable carboxymethyldextran via a Gly-Gly-Gly linker, was observed in this study. High antimetastatic activity of MEN4901/T-0128 was demonstrated in a clinically-relevant orthotopic mouse model of human colon cancer. MEN4901/T-0128 and irinotecan were compared for anti-metastatic activity as well as efficacy against the primary tumor. An imageable, metastatic model was made by surgical orthotopic implantation (SOI) of the green fluorescent protein (GFP)-expressing HT-29 tumor in nude mice. MEN4901/T-0128 and irinotecan were administered intravenously at various doses and schedules. MEN4901/T-0128, with treatment beginning on d 49 after SOI, was highly effective on lymph node metastasis as well as against the primary tumor. Both GFP imaging and histology demonstrated a markedly lower metastatic incidence of lymph nodes in all MEN4901/T-0128 treated mice compared with irinotecan-treated and untreated mice. At the most efficacious dose of MEN4901/T-0128, only 1 of 12 animals had lymph node metastasis compared with 19 of 20 in the control group. The present study demonstrates the principle that when a camptothecan is conjugated to an appropriate polymer, the drug can become extremely effective with important clinical potential for antimetastatic therapy, a most urgent need.

Advanced laboratory stress-strain and strength testing of geomaterials is a need for geotechnical engineering practice. In this keynote paper, recent developments in advanced stress-strain and strength testing of geomaterials, together with engineering application of the test results are reviewed by showing two case histories with reference to excavation work in urban area, and the failure of reinforced wall due to heavy rainfalls.

We searched for innovative treatments specifically targeted to the cytokines of three critically ill patients with streptococcal toxic shock syndrome (STSS). Direct hemoperfusion with polymyxin B-immobilized fiber improved the hemodynamics in all three patients who had developed shock at presentation. Continuous hemodiafiltration coupled with plasma exchange for simultaneous removal of several mediators of the inflammatory cascade improved outcome in case 2 and lessened the aggressive clinical course and prolonged survival in case 3. The application of these technologies appears to open new and interesting therapeutic options and may lead to improved survival in STSS.

The vector error diffusion method was applied to spectral color reproduction of hardcopy. Reflection spectra of the object and primary colors used in the printer were estimated by low dimensional linear model. The accuracy of spectral color reproduction was evaluated and analyzed by computer simulation. It was shown that the spectral color reproduction can be improved by the proposed method.

The vector error diffusion (VED) method is applied to proudce the digital halftone images by an electrophotographic printer with 600 dpi. Objective image quality of those obtained images is evaluated and analyzed. As a result, in the color reproduction of halftone image by the VED method, it was clear that there are large color difference between target color and printed color typically in the mid-tone colors. We consider it is due to the printer properties including dot-gain. It was also clear that the color noise of the VED method is larger compared with that of the conventional scalar error diffusion method in some patches. It was remarkable that ununiform patterns are generated by the VED method.