Development and Validation of Microwave Radiometer Algorithms for Land Surface Hydrology

Koike, Toshio,Fujii, Hideyuki,Tamagawa, Katsunori 대한원격탐사학회 2000 International Symposium on Remote Sensing Vol.16 No.1

Land surface hydrological parameters have been of the advantages of microwaves. It is long enough to considered to play an important role in the global and reduce the scattering effect of cloud particles and to regional climate variability. Especially, soil moisture, make microwave sensors useful all-weather ones. The snow, surface temperature and vegetation are the key wave length in the microwave region has sensitivity to parameters which should be observed in the global scale the scattering effect of snow grains, precipitation for process studies and diagnostic studies and be used in modeling as initial conditions and/or validation data. Tn this study, new algorithms for these hydrological parameters in regional and global scales by using passive microwave sensors are developed based on the microwave radiative transfer theory. The results of algorithm validation by using the field data obtained during the GAME-Tibet Intensive Observing Period particles and leaves. Microwave remote sensing has potential of the measurement of snow water equivalent and vegetation water content (VWC). The independence of sun as a source of illumination is also one of the important reasons for using microwaves. We can obtain the data even in night. This advantage is more important in the case of non-sunsynchronous observation of the diurnal cycle of land surface temperature. (IOP) and the operational data in Russia show good performance of the developed algorithms.

Questionnaire Surveys on Teaching Skills and the Degree in Which Students Understand the Uppermost Points of Importance in Their Classes

Koike, Katsuaki,Mori, Kazuya,Yamao, Toshitaka,Fujimi, Toshio,Kim, Yun-Hae Korean Society for Engineering Education 2010 공학교육연구 Vol.13 No.5

As an activity of one working group for the Good Practice program at Kumamoto University, we proposed a questionnaire survey on the degree in which students understand the uppermost points of importance in their classes in addition to the usual type of class questionnaire. Each class lists three uppermost points of importance which are essential for understanding the class content. The degree of understanding is classified into four levels: full, most, insufficient, and not at all understandings. Through the analysis of questionnaire replies, the degree of understanding for bachelor students in the Department of Engineering was discovered to be meaningfully affected by the degree of difficulty, the effectiveness of audiovisual aids, self-study time, and class attendance.

Ground strain estimation for lifeline earthquake engineering

Koike, Takeshi,Maruyama, Osamu,Garciano, Lessandro Estelito Techno-Press 2007 Structural Engineering and Mechanics, An Int'l Jou Vol.25 No.3

Current seismic design guidelines in Japan are diverse in the seismic ground strain estimates, because the concepts on a horizontally propagating wave model are not consistent in various seismic design guidelines including gas, water and other underground structures. The purpose of this study is (a) to derive the analytical methods to estimate the ground strains for incident seismic waves, (b) to develop a statistical estimation technique of the ground strains, and finally (c) to compare the theoretical estimation with the observed data which was measured at 441 sites in the 1999 Chi-Chi Earthquake in Taiwan.

Stochastic value index for seismic risk management of existing lifelines

Koike, Takeshi,Imai, Toshio Techno-Press 2009 Structural Engineering and Mechanics, An Int'l Jou Vol.32 No.1

This study proposes a certain measure or investment strategy for decision making associated with seismic retrofitting. This strategy reduces the risk of a large-scale malfunction such as water supply loss under seismic risks. The authors developed a stochastic value index that will be used in the overall evaluation of social benefit, income gain, life cycle costs and failure compensation associated with existing lifeline systems damaged by an earthquake during the remaining service period. Optimal seismic disaster prevention investment of deteriorated lifeline systems is discussed. Finally, the present study provides a performance-based design method for seismic retrofitting strategies of existing lifelines which are carried out using the target probabilities of value loss and structural failure.

Conditional PTEN-deficient Mice as a Prostate Cancer Chemoprevention Model

Koike, Hiroyuki,Nozawa, Masahiro,De Velasco, Marco A,Kura, Yurie,Ando, Naomi,Fukushima, Emiko,Yamamoto, Yutaka,Hatanaka, Yuji,Yoshikawa, Kazuhiro,Nishio, Kazuto,Uemura, Hirotsugu Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention 2015 Asian Pacific journal of cancer prevention Vol.16 No.5

Background: We generated a mouse model of prostate cancer based on the adult-prostate-specific inactivation of phosphatase and tensin homolog (PTEN) using the Cre-loxP system. The potential of our mice as a useful animal model was examined by evaluating the chemopreventive efficacy of the anti-androgen, chlormadinone acetate (CMA). Materials and Methods: Six-week-old mice were treated subcutaneously with $50{\mu}g/g$ of CMA three times a week for 9 or 14 weeks and sacrificed at weeks 15 and 20. Macroscopic change of the entire genitourinary tract (GUT) and histologically evident prostate gland tumor development were evaluated. Proliferation and apoptosis status in the prostate were examined by immunohistochemistry. Results: CMA triggered significant shrinkage of not only the GUT but also prostate glands at 15 weeks compared to the control (p=0.017 and p=0.010, respectively), and the trend became more marked after a further five-weeks of treatment. The onset of prostate adenocarcinoma was not prevented but the proliferation of cancer cells was inhibited by CMA, which suggested the androgen axis is critical for cancer growth in these mice. Conclusions: Conditional PTEN-deficient mice are useful as a preclinical model for chemoprevention studies and serve as a valuable tool for the future screening of potential chemopreventive agents.

Micro Morphological Study of Reparative Dentin Induced by Phosphophoryn in Rats

Koike T,Handa K,Hayashi K,Polan MA,Saito T 대한치과재료학회 2011 대한치과기재학회 학술대회 Vol.2011 No.5

Comparison of Outcomes of Oblique Lateral Interbody Fusion with Percutaneous Posterior Fixation in Lateral Position and Minimally Invasive Transforaminal Lumbar Interbody Fusion for Degenerative Spondylolisthesis

Koike Yoshinao,Kotani Yoshihisa,Terao Hidemasa,Iwasaki Norimasa 대한척추외과학회 2021 Asian Spine Journal Vol.15 No.1

Study Design: Single-center retrospective study.Purpose: To compare the physical function and quality of life (QOL) parameters of two minimally invasive surgical (MIS) procedures: oblique lateral interbody fusion with percutaneous posterior fixation in lateral position (OLIF-LPF) and minimally invasive transforaminal lumbar interbody fusion (MIS-TLIF) for single-level degenerative spondylolisthesis (DS). Overview of Literature: To date, many options for the surgical treatment of lumbar DS and reports have described the effectiveness of minimally invasive lateral access surgery and MIS-TLIF. However, there is still a paucity of comparative data regarding the physical function and QOL outcomes of OLIF and MIS-TLIF.Methods: Eighty-six patients were enrolled in this study (group O: OLIF-LPF, n=38; group T: MIS-TLIF, n=48). We evaluated the operation time, estimated blood loss (EBL), postoperative laboratory data, preoperative and postoperative radiographic parameters, overall functional outcome with the Japanese Orthopedic Association Back Pain Evaluation Questionnaire (JOABPEQ) effectiveness rate, and Visual Analog Scale (VAS) score for low back pain, leg pain, and leg numbness.Results: No statistical differences in operation time, EBL, and C-reactive protein level, 5 days postoperatively, between groups O and T. With respect to radiological outcome, preoperative and postoperative disc height change was significantly greater in group O than in group T (3.8 vs. 1.8 mm, p<0.05). Both groups showed postoperative improvements in the clinical outcome scores of all JOABPEQ domains, but the effectiveness rate increase in the psychological domain was significantly higher in group O than in group T (47.1% vs. 14.6%, p<0.05). No differences in the preoperative and postoperative VAS score change were noted between the two groups in any of the items.Conclusions: The changes in physical function and QOL parameters after OLIF-LPF and MIS-TLIF were almost equivalent; however, OLIF-LPF had significant superiority in the psychological domain.

Risk Factor Analysis of Proximal Junctional Kyphosis after Surgical Treatment of Adult Spinal Deformity with Oblique Lateral Interbody Fusion

Koike Yoshinao,Kotani Yoshihisa,Terao Hidemasa,Iwasaki Norimasa 대한척추외과학회 2021 Asian Spine Journal Vol.15 No.1

Study Design: A single-center retrospective study.Purpose: To investigate the prevalence of proximal junctional kyphosis (PJK) and its risk factors after surgical treatment of adult spinal deformity (ASD) with oblique lateral interbody fusion (OLIF).Overview of Literature: Correction of ASD using OLIF has been developed because it is less invasive, and enables correction of severe deformities. Although PJK is a well-recognized complication after the correction of spinal deformity, few studies have evaluated the prevalence and risk factors for PJK after OLIF for ASD.Methods: We reviewed 74 patients who underwent surgery for ASD. PJK was defined as a proximal junction sagittal Cobb angle exceeding 10°, and at least 10° greater than the preoperative measurement. We investigated the following as risk factors: age, sex, body mass index, medical history, number of fused segments, number of interbody fusions, number of OLIFs, number of osteotomies, level of upper instrumented vertebrae, lowest instrumented vertebrae, and radiographic parameters.Results: The mean follow-up duration was 22.4 months and the mean age of the patients was 73.6 years. PJK was present in 19/74 patients (25.7%) and absent in 55/74 (74.3%). In the univariate analysis, those with PJK had a significantly higher proportion of patients with a history of vertebral compression fracture (7/19 patients [36.8%] vs. 6/55 patients [10.9%], p=0.027). Those with PJK had a significantly higher proportion of patients with fusion to the pelvis (18/19 patients [94.7%] vs. 34/55 patients [61.8%], p=0.016). According to the multivariate analysis, fusion to the pelvis was a significant risk factor for PJK.Conclusions: Fusion to the pelvis was the most important risk factor for PJK. A history of vertebral compression fracture served as an additional risk factor for PJK. Clinicians should consider these factors before treating ASD patients with OLIF.

Improvement of Light Extraction Efficiency and Reduction of Leakage Current in GaN-Based LED Via V-Pit Formation

Koike, Kayo,Lee, Seogwoo,Cho, Sung Ryong,Park, Jinsub,Lee, Hyojong,Ha, Jun-Seok,Hong, Soon-Ku,Lee, Hyun-Yong,Cho, Meoung-Whan,Yao, Takafumi IEEE 2012 Photonics Technology Letters Vol.24 No.6

<P>Four types of GaN-based light-emitting diodes (LEDs) with V-pits formed in different regions were grown by metal–organic chemical vapor deposition. The position of the V-pits embedded in the layers of the LED structures was controlled by varying the growth temperature. We achieved the highest output power and lowest leakage current values with the LED structures comprising V-pits embedded in active regions and the p-GaN textured surface. The V-pit formation enhances the light output power and reverse voltage values by 1.3 times the values of the conventional LED owing to the enhancement of the light scattering probability and the effective filtering of threading dislocations.</P>

Fibrolytic Rumen Bacteria: Their Ecology and Functions

Koike, Satoshi,Kobayashi, Yasuo Asian Australasian Association of Animal Productio 2009 Animal Bioscience Vol.22 No.1

Among rumen microbes, bacteria play important roles in the biological degradation of plant fiber due to their large biomass and high activity. To maximize the utilization of fiber components such as cellulose and hemicellulose by ruminant animals, the ecology and functions of rumen bacteria should be understood in detail. Recent genome sequencing analyses of representative fibrolytic bacterial species revealed that the number and variety of enzymes for plant fiber digestion clearly differ between Fibrobacter succinogenes and Ruminococcus flavefaciens. Therefore, the mechanism of plant fiber digestion is also thought to differ between these two species. Ecology of individual fibrolytic bacterial species has been investigated using pure cultures and electron microscopy. Recent advances in molecular biology techniques complement the disadvantages of conventional techniques and allow accurate evaluation of the ecology of specific bacteria in mixed culture, even in situ and in vivo. Molecular monitoring of fibrolytic bacterial species in the rumen indicated the predominance of F. succinogenes. Nutritive interactions between fibrolytic and non-fibrolytic bacteria are important in maintaining and promoting fibrolytic activity, mainly in terms of crossfeeding of metabolites. Recent 16S rDNA-based analyses suggest that presently recognized fibrolytic species such as F. succinogenes and two Ruminococcus species with fibrolytic activity may represent only a small proportion of the total fibrolytic population and that uncultured bacteria may be responsible for fiber digestion in the rumen. Therefore, characterization of these unidentified bacteria is important to fully understand the physiology and ecology of fiber digestion. To achieve this, a combination of conventional and modern techniques could be useful.