Ube City Research Articles

Long-term indirect monitoring system for short and medium span bridges

Bridge health monitoring has been widely discussed for establishing the rational maintenance strategies of existing bridges. Meanwhile, we need to provide discussions and recommendations on how to establish fully automatic data collection system and how to manage the big data for holistic bridge maintenance decisions. The author developed a vehicle-based (coupling of a moving vehicle and a bridge) bridge health monitoring system by using public buses which is one practical solution to the problem for condition assessment of short and medium span bridges (called “bus-based monitoring system”). The proposed system includes some new ideas about making use of the under rear-wheel spring acceleration sensors installed on an in-service fixed-route bus operating on the public transit system (long-term and indirect methods), define “characteristic deflection” as an indicator that may be useful in efficiently detecting a structural anomaly of a bridge, etc. The main objectives of this paper are 1) to introduce the details of how to assess the bridge condition based on the results of long-term application (total more than 10 years) to actual bridges on Ube City bus network in Japan, as a specific example for verify the system, 2) to discuss what is possible steps in realizing practical application of the system to existing bridges for consideration systematically into the maintenance strategies in the future. This paper is a continuation of previously published ones with new materials from the practical application viewpoint.

Age offsets between radiocarbon samples and changes in Holocene depositional ocean environments captured in sediment cores near Ube City, Yamaguchi Prefecture, Japan

Radiocarbon ages from contemporaneous samples of varying types can show large age differences (Nakamura et al., 2016; Raymond and Bauer, 2001), and changes in offsets between these ages (δage) within a core have been scarcely examined. Changes in δage have previously suggested disturbances or shifts to the depositional setting (Nakamura et al., 2016; Ishiwa et al., 2021; Yokoyama et al., 2019). Radiocarbon dating of ocean sediment cores from near Ube City, Yamaguchi prefecture, Japan revealed periods of slower and rapid sedimentation which aligned with, respectively, post-Holocene High Stand (HHS, ∼7–4 cal ka BP (Yokoyama, 2021)) conditions and sea level fall, and pre-HHS conditions with rising sea levels.δage patterns implied that the reliability of sample types as depositional age indicators may depend on the depositional environment. Radiocarbon ages and relative sea level (RSL) curves suggested that local inundation may have occurred up to ∼ 200 years earlier than previously reported. In addition to constraining the relative timing of sea transgression and regression during the HHS, this study highlights the need to examine the depositional setting to accurately represent depositional ages.

URBAN FORMATION PROCESS AND THE FIRST CITY PLANNING IN MODERN MINING AND INDUSTRIAL CITY

This study analyzes the conversion process of the waterfront area from mining to industry in prewar Ube City, focusing on the differences between the east and west of Majime River. On the west, the mining was consolidated at an early stage and reclamation and railroad construction progressed, which influenced the location of new factories in the 1920-30s. On the east, the consolidation was delayed, and the development of industrial infrastructure was slow, resulting in fewer factories until the early 1940s. City planning played a certain role for the industrial formation by planning a new road network in the area.

Supply process and levels of schoolchild care facilities on a basis of elementary school district in provincial cities: Case studies on Ube and Matsue Cities

AbstractThis study aims to clarify the supply process in the status of each elementary school district with schoolchild care facilities, in the Ube and Matsue Cities. Since the latter half of the 1970s, Ube city has been advancing the facility supply, and Matsue city has been doing so since the early 1990s, reaching a facility establishment rate of 200% per elementary school district by around 2010. The facilities of the two cities satisfy the criteria for the number of people and area as a city‐wide average; however, the improvement of some overcrowded facilities is an issue.

CONSTRUCTION PROCESS AND SERVICE LEVEL OF SCHOOLCHILD CARE FACILITIES BY ELEMENTARY SCHOOL UNIT IN LOCAL CITIES

This study aims to clarify the supply process in the status of each elementary school district with schoolchild care facilities, in the Ube and Matsue Cities. Since the latter half of the 1970s, Ube City has been advancing the facility supply, and Matsue City has been doing so since the early 1990s, reaching a facility establishment rate of 200% per elementary school district by around 2010. The facilities of the two cities satisfy the criteria for the number of people and area as a city-wide average, however, the improvement of some overcrowded facilities is an issue.

SLOPE SOIL STABILIZATION THROUGH BIOCEMENTATION BY NATIVE BACTERIA IN CHUGOKU REGION, JAPAN

In this research, a study has been carried out to investigate the potential use of native bacteria from the Chugoku region of Japan for slope soil stabilization. In the biocementation process, soil improvement occurs due to the crystallization of calcium carbonate, which binds soil particles by the enzyme urease of ureolytic bacteria. The precipitated carbonate cements the particle contacts and fills the pores with or without bridging the adjacent soil particles, thereby eventually stiffening the soil matrix. A 60 x 20 mm mold has been used with the natural slope soil collected from Ube City, Yamaguchi, Japan. The treatment was carried out for 21days at the constant room temperature. A direct shear test has been carried out to examine the strength of the bio-cemented soil under the normal stress of 50, 100 and 150 kPa. It was observed that the angle of friction has increased after the biocementation of soil (28 to 34 degrees). Test results indicated the effectiveness of the native bacteria for increasing the strength of the slope soil. The generated calcium carbonate revealed that the native bacteria of Chugoku region could use biocementation for potential slope stabilization.

Tour of Sumitomo Cement Syuho Limestone Mine in Akiyoshidai Plateau and Okinoyama Coal Center in Ube city

Tour of Sumitomo Cement Syuho Limestone Mine in Akiyoshidai Plateau and Okinoyama Coal Center in Ube city

Decrease in Population According to Declining Birthrate and a Growing Proportion of Elderly People and Local Finance: The Strategy on Ube City as a Case

Decrease in Population According to Declining Birthrate and a Growing Proportion of Elderly People and Local Finance: The Strategy on Ube City as a Case

環境教育・環境学習拠点づくり

環境教育・環境学習拠点づくり

Long term application of bus monitoring system to short and medium span bridges and damage detection

In this study, as one solution to the problem for condition assessment of existing short and medium span reinforced/prestressed concrete bridges, a new monitoring method using a public bus as part of a public transit system (bus monitoring system) is proposed, along with safety indices, namely, characteristic deflection, which is relatively free from the influence of dynamic disturbances due to such factors as the roughness of the road surface, and a structural anomaly parameter. A basic study was conducted by using the results of technical verification experiments and numerical analysis simulation. This paper describes the details of not only how to assess the bridge condition by public bus vibration measured in operating on Ube City bus network as a specific example for verify the system but also what kind of consideration we need to apply the system to existing bridges in overseas country.

Evaluation of host quality of life and immune function in breast cancer patients treated with combination of adjuvant chemotherapy and oral administration of Lentinula edodes mycelia extract

PurposeAnthracycline-based chemotherapies for breast cancer are well known to have adverse effects and can also negatively affect host immune function. There is therefore a necessity for an adjuvant that maintains the quality of life (QOL) and immune function of cancer patients receiving anthracycline-based chemotherapies.Patients and methodsThe present study investigated the effectiveness of the concomitant use of Lentinula edodes mycelia extract (LEM), an oral immunomodulator, with FEC75 (5-fluorouracil + epirubicin + cyclophosphamide) therapy on host QOL and immune function in breast cancer patients with nodal metastases. Ten breast cancer patients with nodal metastases receiving surgery were enrolled in this study. Treatment with 5-fluorouracil (500 mg/m2), epirubicin (75 mg/m2), and cyclophosphamide (500 mg/m2) was performed every 21 days for two courses, and LEM (1800 mg/day by mouth) was administered during the second course.ResultsIn the first course, hematological toxicity was observed and host QOL and immune function were exacerbated. In the second course, however, the number of white blood cells and lymphocytes did not decrease and host QOL was maintained. Furthermore, the cytotoxic activities of natural killer (NK) and lymphokine-activated killer cells and the proportion of activated NK and NK T-cells in lymphocytes were maintained in the second course.ConclusionIt has been suggested that the concomitant use of LEM with FEC75 therapy can maintain host QOL and immune function, and offer important implications for an application of LEM as a useful oral adjuvant to anthracycline-based chemotherapies.

Assessment of the Doctor Car System in Ube City, and Its Effect to Cardiopulmonary Arrest

Assessment of the Doctor Car System in Ube City, and Its Effect to Cardiopulmonary Arrest

STUDY ON RESIDENCE PERFORMANCE OF THE SHELTER AND DEVELOPMENT OF A NEW SHELTER

In great disasters, people can hardly endure to stay in a mass refuge environment with no privacy and they felt the burden in mind and body because setting up disaster housing took long time. We tried to develop compact emergency shelter for family use which can be set up in limited time and space by method of assembly, can support recovery of houses by placing them beside damaged houses, and can be used complementarily until disaster housing is set up or can be used for volunteers. We investigated questionnaires on the necessity and the residence performance of the sample shelter at Ube city in the tidal wave disaster area by typhoon and Ojiya city in the disaster area of the 2004 Niigata Chuetsu Earthquake. Temporal residents occupied the sample shelter in winter at Ojiya city and in summer at Ube city and tested the performance of the shelter. Then we developed new compact emergency shelter based on the test results and temporal residents occupied in winter at Ube city. This paper reviewed the practical use and residence performance of the emergency shelters for early supply, for one of the emergency shelters or housings.

OPEN CLINICAL STUDY OF EYE-DROPS CONTAINING TETRAPEPTIDES DERIVED FROM SUBSTANCE P AND INSULIN-LIKE GROWTH FACTOR-1 FOR TREATMENT OF PERSISTENT EPITHELIAL DEFECTS ASSOCIATED WITH NEUROTROPHIC KERATOPATHY

Sunnybrook Health Sciences Centre, University of Toronto, Toronto, ON, Canada Original study reprint requests: Dr Yamada N, Department of Ophthalmology, Yamaguchi University Graduate School of Medicine, 1-1-1 Minami-Kogushi, Ube City, Yamaguchi 755-8505, Japan. E-mail address: [email protected].

Ischemia can stimulate the collagen promoter activity in the huma hepatic stellate cell line, LI-90: Kozo Kayano, Makoto Segawa, Eiki Sakaguchi, Isao Sakaida, Kiwamu Okita, Yamaguchi University School of Medicine, Ube City Yamaguchi Prefecture Japan

Ischemia can stimulate the collagen promoter activity in the huma hepatic stellate cell line, LI-90: Kozo Kayano, Makoto Segawa, Eiki Sakaguchi, Isao Sakaida, Kiwamu Okita, Yamaguchi University School of Medicine, Ube City Yamaguchi Prefecture Japan

TGF-beta2 suppressed Th1-type cytokines production at the single-cell level in HCV-related liver cirrhosis: Eiki Sakaguchi, Kozo Kayano, Makoto Segawa, Mariko Okamoto, Isao Sakaida, Naoki Yamamoto, Shuuji Terai, Kiwamu Okita, Yamaguchi University School of Medicine, Ube city Japan

TGF-beta2 suppressed Th1-type cytokines production at the single-cell level in HCV-related liver cirrhosis: Eiki Sakaguchi, Kozo Kayano, Makoto Segawa, Mariko Okamoto, Isao Sakaida, Naoki Yamamoto, Shuuji Terai, Kiwamu Okita, Yamaguchi University School of Medicine, Ube city Japan

老後の居住願望として中心市街地・郊外の選択と生活関連施設 : 樹形モデルを用いた磐田市と宇部市での分析 その2

老後の居住願望として中心市街地・郊外の選択と生活関連施設 : 樹形モデルを用いた磐田市と宇部市での分析 その2

地方都市中心市街地の駐車場敷地の実態と地権者意識に関する研究(都市計画)

Because of depopulation and decline of central district in the local city, the extensive used lands have been increasing. This research aims to grasp the condition of extnsive used lands at the central district in the local city, we examined the condition of car parkings (764), intention of individual owners and visitor in Ube city. As a result of following points; 1) The narrow parkings lie scattered in the whole area. A lot of them is private parking or contract parking, and is few check parking which visitor uses. 2) Visitor knows check parking, but they don't use them. 3) The old owners are going to hold the lots, As they have no mind to use practically. 4) Some of owners think lots are too narrow for them to practice. It is a necessary to have the systems for applicable to narrow lots.

Beginnings of the Ube City Sculpture Installation Project

1961年に開始される宇部市の彫刻設置事業は, 美術作品としての彫刻を計画的, 継続的に都市空間に設置する, いわゆる「彫刻のある街づくり事業」の第1号である。ここでは数多くの抽象作品が日本で初めて設置の対象となった。この事業の開始時に関与した人々の事業に対する期待を分析した結果, 彫刻により都市環境の改善を図りたい宇部市と社会から自律した作品を自由に制作したかった彫刻家の期待の間には大きな齟齬が存在したことがわかった。両者の媒介となったのが, 美術評論家の土方定一であり, 土方は設置事業と野外彫刻展を組み合わせることにより, この問題の解決を図り, さらに彫刻自体の発展に重大な貢献を果たした。

ON THE INUNDATION PREDICTION TANK MODEL INPUT BY THE DESIGN RAIN

It is important for the precaution activity of inhabitants to know how much rain will cause the urban inundation in their city. We discussed in our previous paper the possibility of prediction in case of Ube city using Tank model and point rain prediction method. The Tank structure, Tank parameters and critical occurrence level of residual water in Tank were determined to separate clearly the inundation occurrence cases and the non-occurrence cases in the past rains. We call the critical occurrence level D line. In this paper, we examine how the Tank water level reaches the criterion level (D line) in case of Ube city, inputting the design rain into Tank instead of real 10minite rainfall data.