Patrons of staff canteens were referred to as "canteen enthusiasts" or "canteen medium-enthusiasts", who are "snack lovers", as well as "food choice-oriented" or "quality-oriented". The results provide the basis for practical implications for owners or managers of staff canteens, part of whose work it is to analyze the needs and expectations of their potential customers.In Japan's response to the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19), virus testing was limited to symptomatic patients due to limited capacity, resulting in uncertainty regarding the spread of infection and the appropriateness of countermeasures. System dynamic modelling, comprised of stock flow and infection modelling, was used to describe regional population dynamics and estimate assumed region-specific transmission rates. The estimated regional transmission rates were then mapped against actual patient data throughout the course of the interventions. This modelling, together with simulation studies, demonstrated the effectiveness of inbound traveler quarantine and resident self-isolation policies and practices. A causal loop approach was taken to link societal factors to infection control measures. This causal loop modelling suggested that the only effective measure against COVID-19 transmission in the Japanese context was intervention in the early stages of the outbreak by national and regional governments, and no social self-strengthening dynamics were demonstrated. These findings may contribute to an understanding of how social resilience to future infectious disease threats can be developed.Laser-based technologies are extensively used for polymer surface patterning and/or texturing. Different micro- and nanostructures can be obtained thanks to a wide range of laser types and beam parameters. Cell behavior on various types of materials is an extensively investigated phenomenon in biomedical applications. Polymer topography such as height, diameter, and spacing of the patterning will cause different cell responses, which can also vary depending on the utilized cell types. Structurization can highly improve the biological performance of the material without any need for chemical modification. The aim of the study was to evaluate the effect of CO2 laser irradiation of poly(L-lactide) (PLLA) thin films on the surface microhardness, roughness, wettability, and cytocompatibility. The conducted testing showed that CO2 laser texturing of PLLA provides the ability to adjust the structural and physical properties of the PLLA surface to the requirements of the cells despite significant changes in the mechanical properties of the laser-treated surface polymer.Peripheral nerve injury can result in severe functional impairment and decreased quality of life due to loss of sensory and motor function. Nypa fruticans wurmb (NF) has been used in diverse folk remedies in East Asia. We have previously shown that Nypa fruticans wurmb extract has antinociceptive and anti-inflammatory effects by suppressing TRPV1 in the sciatic nerve injury. The present study investigated the effects of NF on the control of TRPV1 in relation to neuroprotective effects of a sciatic nerve crush injury. To evaluate the neuroprotective effects, an animal behavior test and a physiological function test were performed. Functional recovery and nerve recovery were improved in the NF and NF + SB (SB366791; TRPV1 antagonist) treated group. In the histomorphology evaluation, the neuronal regenerative effect of NF on the injured sciatic nerve was confirmed via hematoxylin and eosin (H&E) staining. In this study, the NF and NF + SB treated group showed neuroprotective and functional recovery effects from the sciatic nerve crush injury. IMP-1088 cell line Furthermore, the expression of NF-κB and iNOS showed a significantly suppressive effect on NF (p less then 0.01), SB (p less then 0.01), and NF + SB (p less then 0.01) treated group at the 7th and 14th day compared to the vehicle group. This study confirmed the neuroprotective effects of NF on suppressing TRPV1 in a sciatic nerve crush injury. The findings of this study establish the effect of NF as a neurotherapeutic agent to protect the peripheral nerve after a sciatic nerve crush injury.Gait phase recognition is of great importance in the development of assistance-as-needed robotic devices, such as exoskeletons. In order for a powered exoskeleton with phase-based control to determine and provide proper assistance to the wearer during gait, the user's current gait phase must first be identified accurately. Gait phase recognition can potentially be achieved through input from wearable sensors. Deep convolutional neural networks (DCNN) is a machine learning approach that is widely used in image recognition. User kinematics, measured from inertial measurement unit (IMU) output, can be considered as an 'image' since it exhibits some local 'spatial' pattern when the sensor data is arranged in sequence. We propose a specialized DCNN to distinguish five phases in a gait cycle, based on IMU data and classified with foot switch information. The DCNN showed approximately 97% accuracy during an offline evaluation of gait phase recognition. Accuracy was highest in the swing phase and lowest in terminal stance.In the last 50 years, plasticized polyvinyl chloride (PVC) membranes have gained unique importance in chemical sensor development. Originally, these membranes separated two solutions in conventional ion-selective electrodes. Later, the same membranes were applied over a variety of supporting electrodes and used in both potentiometric and voltammetric measurements of ions and electrically charged molecules. The focus of this paper is to demonstrate the utility of the plasticized PVC membrane modified working electrode for the voltammetric measurement of highly lipophilic molecules. The plasticized PVC membrane prevents electrode fouling, extends the detection limit of the voltammetric methods to sub-micromolar concentrations, and minimizes interference by electrochemically active hydrophilic analytes.While atomic scale structural and dynamic information are hallmarks of nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) methodologies, sensitivity is a fundamental limitation in NMR studies. Fully exploiting NMR capabilities to study membrane proteins is further hampered by their dilution within biological membranes. Recent developments in dynamic nuclear polarization (DNP), which can transfer the relatively high polarization of unpaired electrons to nuclear spins, show promise for overcoming the sensitivity bottleneck and enabling NMR characterization of membrane proteins under native-like conditions. Here we discuss fundamental aspects of DNP-enhanced solid-state NMR spectroscopy, experimental details relevant to the study of lipid assemblies and incorporated proteins, and sensitivity gains which can be realized in biomembrane-based samples. We also present unique insights which can be gained from DNP measurements and prospects for further development of the technique for elucidating structures and orientations of membrane proteins in native lipid environments.