The third and fourth epidemic waves of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) in Sapporo city were analyzed using a mathematical model. The model is an SEIUICRDURDC model, which is extended from an SEIR ...model. In the SEIUICRDURDC model, I (infectious compartment) is divided into IU (unconfirmed infectious compartment) and IC (confirmed infectious compartment); R (recovered compartment) is divided into RDU (unconfirmed recovered or died compartment) and RDC (confirmed recovered or died compartment). The mathematical model provides an analysis that the ratio of the number of IC to that of total infectious cases (IU+IC) depended on the day, i. e., the ratio was about 43-68% in the third wave, and about 55-84% in the fourth wave and that about 32% and 33% of infectious cases were confirmed in the third and fourth waves, respectively, by calculating each ratio of the cumulative number of RDC to that of RDU plus RDC in each wave.Mathematical analysis is more and more important in the future, because the pandemic of COVID- 19 is considered to continue for the time being.
This report aims to clarify the effects of citywide review of zoning and to examine the necessity of such review by clarifying the history of citywide review of zoning, its intention, and whether the ...intended urban area has been formed, in Sapporo, a city that regularly conducts citywide zoning review. The intended land use is being used in three of the four targeted reviews, and should be reviewed at least in areas where the population is increasing. However, the review in areas with declining populations failed to induce the intended land use, so reviewing in such areas is a challenge.
•As leaching from soils involved in shield excavation was investigated.•Adsorption/desorption on Fe-surfaces is one of the major mechanisms of As leaching.•pH plays an important role in restricting ...As leaching from soils.•ATR-FTIR detected more sensitively Ca-bearing minerals than XRD.•Chemical phases of As did not change with and without cement addition.
Tunnel construction in soft alluvial deposits is generally done using the shield-tunneling method, a technique that requires the mixing of cementitious materials with excavated soils to reinforce and stabilize the excavated tunnel walls. Although the mechanical properties of soft soils and sediments are improved after introduction of cementitious materials, this process could increase the pH of these geological materials and mobilize naturally occurring arsenic (As). In the present study, the effects of cement addition on As leaching from tunnel-excavated soils naturally contaminated with As were investigated. Sequential extraction experiments were also carried out to determine the chemical forms, solid-phase partitioning and leachability of As in the soils. The results of attenuated total reflectance Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (ATR-FTIR) showed slight changes in the chemical properties of soils due to cement addition but the chemical phases of As remained unchanged. In the absence of cement, sequential extraction showed higher As leaching from the soils when the exchangeable As fraction and total As content increased. In contrast, As leaching increased up to pH 10.3 and then decreased at higher pH values when cement was added. This trend was observed irrespective of the soil samples, which indicates that pH adjustment is an important countermeasure in restricting As leaching from excavated soils.
A 49-year-old man visited an ex-doctor because of general fatigue for two weeks. Laboratory tests showed severe jaundice and liver dysfunction, but he refused in-hospital treatment. After one week, ...the condition deteriorated, and he was referred to our hospital. Because of excessive alcohol consumption, remarkable jaundice, leukocyte level elevation, and hepatomegaly, the patient was diagnosed with severe alcoholic hepatitis. Although steroid administration was started, his condition worsened gradually, and he died 30 days after the first visit. It was found that HEV-IgA antibody was positive, and the further examination of the serum stored at the first visit revealed acute infection with HEV genotype 4 (new Sapporo strain). Although this case was similar to severe alcoholic hepatitis, it is thought that acute infection with HEV was involved in the cause of acute liver failure in the patient with chronic liver injury.
This study clarified the process of establishment and operation of the Basic Plan for Sapporo City’s Residential Neighborhood Districts in order to gain knowledge for planned urban development, which ...is necessary even in a declining population in Japanese cities.The introduction of the residential unit concept in Sapporo was initially aimed at fostering new communities. Subsequently, the objectives were to control sprawl development and to secure land for large-scale parks and elementary and junior high schools.The layout plan for each facility established by the basic plan was realized through the operation of the development permit system and other measures.
•New public domain flow and morphodynamics interface for river applications.•Interface includes one-, two- and three-dimensional flow and bed deformation solvers.•Comprehensive tools for grid and ...mesh generation, plus visualization of solutions.
This paper describes a new, public-domain interface for modeling flow, sediment transport and morphodynamics in rivers and other geophysical flows. The interface is named after the International River Interface Cooperative (iRIC), the group that constructed the interface and many of the current solvers included in iRIC. The interface is entirely free to any user and currently houses thirteen models ranging from simple one-dimensional models through three-dimensional large-eddy simulation models. Solvers are only loosely coupled to the interface so it is straightforward to modify existing solvers or to introduce other solvers into the system. Six of the most widely-used solvers are described in detail including example calculations to serve as an aid for users choosing what approach might be most appropriate for their own applications. The example calculations range from practical computations of bed evolution in natural rivers to highly detailed predictions of the development of small-scale bedforms on an initially flat bed. The remaining solvers are also briefly described. Although the focus of most solvers is coupled flow and morphodynamics, several of the solvers are also specifically aimed at providing flood inundation predictions over large spatial domains. Potential users can download the application, solvers, manuals, and educational materials including detailed tutorials at www.-i-ric.org. The iRIC development group encourages scientists and engineers to use the tool and to consider adding their own methods to the iRIC suite of tools.
Urban housing and transportation are strongly related systems. However, few studies have explored the balance between urban housing and transportation systems. Excess investment in transportation ...systems puts intense pressure on local governments' budgets, especially in shrinking urban areas. In this study, we measured the spatial efficiency of Sapporo city's transportation system using data envelopment analysis. Our results highlight that two-thirds of the urban area were running below capacity. Among them, car parking sites and car parking areas had the highest surplus capacity at 27.81% and 15.86%, respectively. Meanwhile, bus stops, road density, and train station service areas exceeded the demand by about 12%–16%. The results also show that the shortfall in the filling rate of housing was high at 3.82%. Finally, based on our analysis, we introduced recommendations for city policymakers to improve the city's overall efficiency.
•Transportation infrastructure become surplus in the declining urban area.•DEA plays as a benchmarking tool to identify the transportation resources excess.•There is an imbalance between housing and transportation in the city of Sapporo.•This study helps to save the local budget on transportation and the housing market.
We conducted a cross-sectional survey among SARS-CoV-2-positive persons and negative controls in Sapporo, Japan, to clarify symptoms of long COVID. We collected responses from 8,018 participants, ...3,694 case-patients and 3,672 controls. We calculated symptom prevalence for case-patients at 2-3, 4-6, 7-9, 10-12, and 13-18 months after illness onset. We used logistic regression, adjusted for age and sex, to estimate the odds ratio (OR) for each symptom and control reference. We calculated symptom prevalence by stratifying for disease severity, age, and sex. At 4-18 months from illness onset, ORs for anosmia, ageusia, dyspnea, alopecia, and brain fog were consistently >1, whereas ORs for common cold-like, gastrointestinal, and dermatologic symptoms were <1. Time trend ORs increased for diminished ability to concentrate, brain fog, sleep disturbance, eye symptoms, and tinnitus. Clinicians should focus on systemic, respiratory, and neuropsychiatric symptoms among long COVID patients.
A prospective population-based cohort study with a nested case-control study was conducted to estimate the incidence of gastroenteritis and the associated pathogens in the general Dutch population. ...Follow-up of two consecutive cohorts was performed by weekly reporting cards from December 1998 to December 1999. Cases and controls in the case-control study supplied a questionnaire and stool samples. The standardized gastroenteritis incidence was 283 per 1,000 person-years. The incidence rose with increasing level of education and was higher for persons with a history of diarrhea and for young children. Bacterial pathogens accounted for 5% of cases, bacterial toxins for 9%, parasites for 6%, and viral pathogens for 21%, with Norwalk-like virus (NLV) as the leading pathogen in 11% of cases. The gastroenteritis incidence was higher than that reported for England, but lower than for the United States. In community cases, viral pathogens are the leading cause of gastroenteritis, with NLV being the number one cause of illness in all age groups but one. In many countries, preventive measures are implemented to decrease bacterial infections. However, additional prevention of viral infections, especially NLV, might significantly decrease the number of gastroenteritis cases in the community.
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