Hiroyuki Nishimoto

The images that our eyes perceive are slightly different from the objects. Images in visual space are illusions. However, they are indeed based on optics. In physical space, parallel lines never intersect. In visual space, however, parallel lines intersect at the vanishing point. This is not limited to the human eye; camera lenses produce images similarly. If visual space is spherical, the phenomenon of intersecting parallel lines is no mystery. This paper provides a new geometric model considering the intersection of parallel lines at vanishing points.

Background: Time disorientation is one of the main symptoms observed in patients with dementia; however, their clock-reading ability has not been fully reported. Objective: This study aimed to investigate the clock-reading ability of both digital and analog clocks in patients with dementia. We newly devised the clock-reading test (CRT) and the number-reading test (NRT) to assess cognitive factors that may affect clock-reading ability. Furthermore, the discriminating power of the CRT was calculated. Methods: 104 participants were categorized based on their Mini-Mental State Examination (MMSE) scores as follows: subjective cognitive decline ∼ mild cognitive impairment (SCD∼MCI, N = 43), early Alzheimer’s disease (AD) (N = 26), and middle-to-late AD (N = 35). Their cognitive abilities were evaluated using the clock-drawing test (CDT), CRT, and NRT. Results: Cognitive decline leads to impairment of clock-reading ability which is more pronounced in the analog clocks than digital ones. This deficit in clock-reading is attributed to a loss of semantic memory regarding clocks at all stages. Additionally, visuospatial dysfunction and reduced ability of number recognition may lead to deficit in clock-reading in the advanced stage of AD. The discriminating power of the CRT (analog) (AUC = 0.853) was high enough to detect cognitive decline. Conclusion: Digital clocks are more readable by patients with dementia. Since reading clocks is closely associated with daily life, the CRT has proved to be a useful tool. A decline of analog clock-reading may be an early detector for the onset of dementia in elderly patients.

Background: With the rapid aging of the population, the issue of driving by dementia patients has been causing increasing concern worldwide. Objective: To investigate the driving difficulties faced by senior drivers with cognitive impairment and identify the specific neuropsychological tests that can reflect specific domains of driving maneuvers. Methods: Senior drivers with cognitive impairment were investigated. Neuropsychological tests and a questionnaire on demographic and driving characteristics were administered. Driving simulator tests were used to quantify participants’ driving errors in various domains of driving. Results: Of the 47 participants, 23 current drivers, though they had better cognitive functions than 24 retired drivers, were found to have impaired driving performance in the domains of Reaction, Starting and stopping, Signaling, and Overall (wayfinding and accidents). The parameters of Reaction were significantly related to the diagnosis, and the scores of MMSE, TMT-A, and TMT-B. As regards details of the driving errors, “Sudden braking” was associated with the scores of MMSE (ρ= –0.707, p < 0.01), BDT (ρ= –0.560, p < 0.05), and ADAS (ρ= 0.758, p < 0.01), “Forgetting to use turn signals” with the TMT-B score (ρ= 0.608, p < 0.05), “Centerline crossings” with the scores of MMSE (ρ= –0.582, p < 0.05) and ADAS (ρ= 0.538, p < 0.05), and “Going the wrong way” was correlated with the score of CDT (ρ= –0.624, p < 0.01). Conclusion: Different neuropsychological factors serve as predictors of different specific driving maneuvers segmented from driving performance.

錯視の原理として諸説論じられているが，遠近法が幾何学的錯視の基本原理であるとすると，多くの錯視が比較的シンプルに説明できる．錯視がこのように遠近感覚に基づく副産物であるとすると，錯視は心が作り出す単なる幻想ではなく，必要に迫られて身につけた脳力の一つである．従ってこのように経験や学習により習得した能力であるならば，いずれAIも学習により全ての錯視を経験するとした観察研究の論文．

簡単な軸対称形状からなる冷間鍛造用型の磨き作業における作業効率の分析

簡単な軸対称形状からなる冷間鍛造用型の磨き作業における繰返し精度の分析

Soft pastel, lightly pressed with body pigment, has various colors close to the color pigments. We built the hypothesis that a certain volume of body pigment provides delicate nuance of color, tone, and texture to soft pastels. We examined the effect brought by two types of body pigments regarding color and strength respectively. Experimental results supported our hypothesis. About color, we obtained lower numerical values of Value and Chroma when we used porcelain clay than calcium carbonate (CaCO3 ). In other words, calcium carbonate produces light and bright color, and porcelain clay produces tint or neutral color. Concerning strength, applying porcelain clay, fracture stress was further increased than CaCO3 . Furthermore, we examined the relationship between the drawing medium (pastel) and the support medium (paper etc.). The result showed that the weaker the drawing medium strength becomes, the more the pigmenting (coloring) becomes capable with weak pressure. But easy pigmenting does not always mean generating rich and various color tones. Those facts suggested the possibility that optimum numeric value in medium strength would be found out, which enable us to perform broader expression.

This research focused on the developing the capacity of knitting skill. The comparison of skill between the experts with non-experts was studied. The movement of arms was measured to investigate the effect of arm movement on quality of knitting fabric. The experiment was carried out with a video camera to record and analyze the differences of the knitting speed and manner in knitting. The quality of the fabric was measured by a loop of fabric to see the consistency of the loop fabric, which is important for beautiful fabrics. The results revealed the procedure used to crochet knitting machines were very different in appearance, knitting and speed. The quality of the fabric was beautiful, similar to the use of the knitting as machine knitting. The main difference between them was only part of the seams.

In forging parts production, the die life is important for the production efficiency. If the die is fractured under production accidentally, it may cause a big damage to the productivity. One of die broken mode is a scratch on die surface caused by polishing in order to meet the design. It is for finishing the pre-mature die by polishing. It is required for more skillful craftspeople because the die life depends on damage of scratches. Therefore it is important to succeed their expertise constantly. It takes several years for craftspeople to be the expert on the job training. In this study, in order to accelerate their expertise transferring, we analyzed their expertise in focusing on quality of polishing in a forging part.

In the early Meiji period, Japanese government promoted to introduce Western drawing. In increasing demand for the domestic production of the drawing materials, in compliance with a painter Chiyoji Yazaki,, a factory of Kyoto started to produce soft pastels for the first time in Japan in 1919.In this study, we investigated what kind of colors the then Japanese artists desired, by examining the colors of the soft pastels at the time of the factory's founding. One of the characteristics of soft pastel is the prearranged wide variety of colors. Moreover, there are so-called distinctive traditional colors according to the regions and countries. Our hypothesis is that Japanese traditional colors were included in the original soft pastels.With the Munsell color system, we examined three Japanese-made soft pastel sets and one French-made set.We compared the relations between the pastel colors and those respective traditional colors. In parallel, we conducted interview survey with the manufacturer, the current president, about the startup history.The result indicates that the Japan's first soft pastels were provided in response to the senses of color that Japanese traditionally have. Furthermore, to create the delicate color tones, the founder employed a unique material compounding methods. The fact that the founder was a Sunday painter and had sympathy for the artists must have contributed to come to produce Japanese soft pastels.

Background Drug-induced interstitial lung disease (ILD) is one of the most serious adverse reactions associated with the molecularly targeted drugs. Panitumumab has been approved for advanced or recurrent colorectal cancer. Although there were no adverse reaction reports of ILD in panitumumab monotherapy, 4 cases in combination chemotherapy were reported prior to its approval in Japan in 2010. Several studies also reported that the incidence of drug-induced ILD was higher in Japan than in other countries. The clinical features of ILD and the associated risk factors therefore need investigation. Methods We analyzed the data from 3085 unresectable, advanced or recurrent colorectal cancer patients enrolled in a postmarketing all-case surveillance study of panitumumab in Japan. ILD case reports were assessed based on the clinical and radiologic findings by a committee of external experts. Multivariate analysis using Cox's hazard model identified the risk factors. Results ILD incidence (1.3 %) and mortality rates (51.3 %) were similar to those of patients receiving another anti-epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) monoclonal antibody in Japan. No specific onset timing was determined. Although panitumumab-specific ILD findings were not observed in computed tomography images or clinical practice, panitumumab can induce ILD with diffuse alveolar damage, as do the other anti-EGFR targeting drugs. A history/complication of ILD, male sex, poor general condition, and 65 years or older were identified as ILD risk factors, and no history of previous drug treatment was an apparent risk factor. Conclusion Panitumumab-induced ILD can occur at any time after initiation, and close and regular monitoring is needed.

The goal of this research is the development of a learning system for the coating and painting tasks carried out in automobile repair. In this study, the characteristics of skilled spray gun handling for automobile repair painting were analyzed and compared with those with little or no experience. The spray gun movements of 55 individuals were measured by using a motion capture system. The spray gun movements of the expertswere characterized by longer length, longer time, higher speed, and narrower swing range, compared with the non-experts. (C) 2015 The Authors. Published by Elsevier B.V.

The carburizing process requires metallurgical inspection by means of polished metallurgical mounts. Metallographic preparation for a metallurgical mount is an important process for the quality assurance of the carburizing process. The purpose of this study is to clarify the expert’s characteristics of polishing process based on the eye movement analysis. Two inspectors with 20 (hereinafter referred to as “expert”) and 0.5 years (hereinafter referred to as “nonexpert”) of experience in metallographic preparation were interviewed and their eye movement analyzed. As a result, the expert made pressure adjustments and cleaning the surface and supplying alumina as needed while performing the polish.

The research conducted was to study the hitting process of a needle bar used within textile machinery and how to improve its efficiency and performance. A needle bar consists of a brass bar attached with a number of small pins. The primary focus was learning technique while straightening the needle bar. In order to join pins and brass bar together, the soldering is applied. The result from the heat transfer during soldering process can cause the brass pins to bend, which is undesirable for finished product. A soldering expertise uses hitting movement technique to modify and straighten the brass bar. Even though soldering process is the only step in making the brass bar however, its method is considered very complicated and requires refinement and specialization from the maker.

Carburizing is the most common heat treatment process for hardening ferrous alloy. The quality assurance of carburizing process requires metallographic analysis of case depth, retained austenite, intergranular oxidation, and carbide network by means of metallographic sample. Metallographic preparation consists of sectioning, mounting, plane grinding, polishing to mirror surface. It is difficult for non-expert to prepare metallographic sample with global mirror surface because preparation skill needs long time experience in this field. In this study, the difference of EMG activity during handheld grinding motion for metallographic specimen between expert and nonexpert execution was analyzed. The expert’s abductor pollicis brevis, extensor carpi radialis brevis, and triceps brachii were working activity than the other muscles. We considered that these muscle activity balance by the expert contribute to the stable grinding conditions and good surface finish.

1A braiding rope is the Japanese traditional rope that a quality and beauty of them have depended on the skill and experience of a braider. In this research, the skill of a expert and two non-experts who practice the braiding everyday and every week, respectively were measured and compared through the eye’s movement measurement and observed the braiding rope quality. The measurement was carried out every month for three times. It was found that the expert show the constant of eye’s focus at the center of marudai plate and reveled a complete pattern of braiding rope. For two non-experts, their eye’s movement wobbled around marudai plate for all trials. However, the braiding speed and quality were developed by the regular training. There are no the defects in the ropes in the trial 2 and 3.

This research focused on the developing the capacity of knitting skill. The comparison of skill between the experts with non-expert was study. The movement of arms was measure to investigate the effect of arm movement on quality of knitting fabric. The experiment was carried out on a video camera to record and analyze the differences of the knitting speed and manner in knitting. The quality of the fabric is measured by a loop of fabric to see the consistency of the loop fabric is important and beautiful fabrics. The result is a procedure used to crochet knitting machines are very different in appearance, knitting and speed. The quality of the fabric is beautiful, similar to the use of a knitting machine knitting. The main difference between them is only part of the seams.

One of the quality assurance methods for steel and composite materials is to verify material constitutes and structures of polished specimens by microscope. We prepared a sample used for microscope analysis in the following method: first, cut a sample from the cross-section, and mount with the epoxy resin, and then grind it. This process requires long craftsmen’s experience to grind a sample properly for microscope test. In this research, we comparably evaluated the differences in grinding sound and comprehension skills between the expert and the non-expert. As a result, we found that the expert was more sensitive to the difference in the sounds generated during grinding process. He comprehended the state of a grinding sample by the sound generated during grinding and adjusted his grinding force in a wider range.

In forging parts production, the die life is important for the production efficiency. It is required for more skillful craftspeople because the die life depends on damage of scratches. Therefore it is important to succeed their expertise constantly. It takes several years for craftspeople to be the expert on the job training. In this study, in order to accelerate their expertise transferring, we analyzed their expertise in focusing on quality of polishing in a forging part. Craftspeople with different time of the experience were entered and compared in this experiment. Their skills were measured by checking the quality including the roughness on the die surface, the variation from the designated thickness and the work time. (C) 2015 The Authors. Published by Elsevier B.V.

"Bento" is widely known as a packed meal culture in Japanese cuisine. In order to investigate the Bento culture, we conducted the behavior analysis in terms of the feeding action for a packed meal. It is called "Shumai Bento" in Japanese. In the first term, "Shumai" is originated as "Shaomai" in China. It is a famous cuisine in Yokohama city which is located near Tokyo city in Japan. Since it is one of famous China towns, "Shumai Bento" is also widely known as a special local product. It holds "Shumai" as a main meal accompanying boiled rice, fried egg and other vegetables in a box-shaped container. In this study, 22 subjects were entered in this experiment. Their motions were recorded by video camera and analyzed in focusing on their order of feedings on each meal. Bento is a set of meals. We have to make a little decision of what to eat at first because all meals are served at same time. In our thought, the first action may be decided by their characteristics. A person conveyed a "Shumai" to her/his mouth at first. Another parson conveyed rice to her/his mouth at first. In the second action, it is more complicated decision making from the first one. We need to consider the prior probability as a similar method of the Bayes' theorem. If a person already had a "Shumai" at first, the probability of the selection for "Shumai" will be low. However, if a person so much prefers to eat a favorite meal, in the next action, he may repeat same action. In this study, we classified them by some psychological testing and found the first actions were related with their characteristics. (C) 2015 The Authors. Published by Elsevier B.V.

Bento is widely known as a meal box culture in Japanese cuisine. In a common Japanese Bento style, it holds boiled rice, fried egg, baked fish, fresh salads or pickled vegetables in a box-shaped container. It seems a similar style of picnics. However, it is a different culture because it can be witnessed at not only out-door area but also in-door space. It is a common lunch style in Japan at class rooms, office rooms, construction sites, and elsewhere at noon. There is no exception in students except elementary school students. In the Japanese education system, only elementary schools need to provide their lunches as a school service. Therefore, in kindergartens, junior high schools and high schools, they usually bring their lunch boxes, "Bento", from home. In every morning at home, parents are cooking to prepare meal for Bento with so much affectionate features. One of the features is their anxieties about their children's health. They are always taking care of the nutrition valance. Another feature is a design of pictorial expression decorated by colorful foods on rice. It makes a lot of considerations for purchasing the foodstuffs. In this study, in order to clarify the decision process of Bento making, we developed a psychological process model. However, there are a lot of psychological process models. For example, "AIDMA" is one of the typical models. It defines a process that leads consumers to purchase some products. First, consumers become aware of a product (Attention), get interested (Interest), desire to obtain it (Desire), memorize it (Memory), and actually purchase it at last (Action). The decision proceeds in this way. However, it does not explain the details of how to cook a Bento because it is difficult to standardize the decision model in each case. In this study, in order to clarify the decision process, we employed the state transition diagram as a psychological process model. (C) 2015 The Authors. Published by Elsevier B.V.

A steal bearing unit on conveying equipment in a turret punch press basically has noise problems. One of the solutions is a usage of polymeric blush instead of steal bearing, which works as the cushioning material. However, the loading characteristic is not clear because the concrete evaluation method for polymeric brush is not established. The variation on the head of each fiber in the brush makes the deviation in terms of the mechanical properties. Besides, our expectation to the heavy load is increasing in recent years. Therefore, the purpose of this study is to propose new method to evaluate the mechanical properties of the polymeric brush. Basically, the start point of stress increase on each fiber varies because of the different length of fibers on one brush. It makes difficulty on zero point adjustment according to each brush with different properties. Then we developed new zero point adjustment based on comparing with preloading and unloading characteristics. The experimental results show the validation that new evaluation method improves the predictive accuracy and imply more efficient designing in the conveyer equipment.

An advantage of braided composites is that the fiber bundle orientation angle, called the "braiding angle," can be changed, because the braiding angle affects the mechanical properties. Control of the angle is an important means of adjusting the stiffness distribution as required. However, when the braiding angle is changing from an initial braiding angle to a targeted braiding angle designated by the longitudinal velocity of the mandrel, some delay occurs before the actual braiding angle reaches the targeted braiding angle. The delay is caused by movement of "creating point" which is defined as a fell-down point with the braiding yarn on the mandrel. After the creating point reaches the targeted point, the braiding angle will be constant. In order to obtain the temporal change in braiding angle under unsteady-state conditions, this paper presents a step response model in braiding angle on a cylindrical braided fabric. The mechanism in the temporal change is simple. Velocity of the creating point is in proportion to distance between the current creating point and the steady-state creating point designated as the targeted angle. The solution can be described by a time constant, because the motion equation is the first-order of differential equation which is derived from geometrical position of a braiding yarn. Furthermore, the method is verified with the experimental data. As a consequence, the model has proved effective for predicting fiber orientation on a cylindrical braided preform under unsteady-state conditions. (Received 2 December, 2010; Accepted 5 October, 2011)

An advantage of braided fabrics is that the fiber bundle orientation angle, called the "braiding angle," can be changed. Because the braiding angle affects the fabric's mechanical properties, changing the angle is an important means of adjusting the stiffness distribution as required. However, when the braiding angle is changing from an initial braiding angle to a targeted braiding angle designated by the longitudinal velocity of the mandrel, some delay occurs before the actual braiding angle reaches the targeted braiding angle. Previously, several models have been developed in order to predict braiding angles, although a prediction method for a temporal change in braiding angle caused by the mandrel velocity change has not been presented. In order to obtain the temporal change in braiding angle under unsteady-state conditions, this paper presents a step response model in braiding angle on a cylindrical braided fabric. Furthermore, the method is verified with the experimental data. As a consequence, the model has proved effective for predicting fiber orientation on a cylindrical braided preform under unsteady-state conditions.

Braided composites have an advantage in that their stiffness distribution can be changed by changing the orientation angle of the fibre bundle, called the 'braiding angle'. To change the braiding angle on a cylindrical braided fabric, the longitudinal velocity of the mandrel and the angular rate of the spindle in a braider should be changed. However, these changes are only in the longitudinal direction and not in the circumferential direction. A method for generating changes in the circumferential direction is proposed. The method sets an elliptical guide ring to provide fibres towards the longitudinal direction, called the 'creating ellipse', rather than a circular guide ring, called the 'creating circle' on a braider. Dynamic changes in the radius of the creating ellipse induce distribution changes in the circumferential direction. In validation studies comparing theoretical braiding angles with the experimental results, this method is proven effective for predicting circumferential distributions on a cylindrical braided fabric.

Mechanical properties of composite materials reinforced by braided fabric are affected by fiber bundle orientation angle (called "braiding angle"). Controlling the braiding angle is a very important issue in order to create stiffness distribution according to the requirement. The braiding angle on cylindrical tubular braided fabrics under unsteady-state condition is decided by four parameters; a longitudinal velocity of mandrel, an angular rate of spindle, a radius of round cross-sectional mandrel and a radius of creating circle. In order to create distribution of braiding angle on a braided fabric, generally, the longitudinal velocity of mandrel and the angular rate of spindle will be changed. By using this approach, longitudinal stiffness distribution can be made, but circumferential stiffness distribution cannot be created. Thus, in order to obtain circumferential stiffness distribution, a new method for generating circumferential distribution of braiding angle on cylindrical tubular braded fabrics was needed. One of the solutions for creating circumferential distribution of braiding angle was by using a creating ellipse instead of a round-shaped creating circle. The dynamically change of a radius on the creating ellipse could make a circumferential distribution of braiding angle. Furthermore, the theoretical braiding angle was compared with the experimental results in order to validate this method. As a consequence, the proposed method was effective for creating circumferential stiffness distribution on the braided composite pipe.

The major factors that have heretofore prevented an efficient implementation of clinical trials include deviations from the protocol at the investigator's site, defectiveness in filling out the case report forms (CRFs), frequent monitoring and fixing work of patient data by the sponsor, handwritten preparation of various documents, and so on. As an experiment in electronic implementation of an efficient clinical trial utilizing information technology, we formed an electronic data capture (EDC) system that efficiently collects clinical data from the investigator's site, and applied it to a clinical trial. As a result, there was no patient with a GCP violation and thus all were eligible as study subjects and the number of correction log form (CLF) for CRFs was considerably reduced. In addition, it was possible to conduct an efficient clinical trial and shorten the study period by utilizing this EDC system. We discuss the future readiness for clinical trials based on this experience of implementation, as well as the challenges that lie ahead.