Shizuoka University

Industry 5.0 drives a deeper fusion between advanced intelligent systems and human creativity, positioning immersive technologies as essential components of modern innovation. Digital Twins and the Metaverse enable highly interactive, data rich environments where physical processes can be simulated, optimized, and experienced virtually. With support from AI, IoT, blockchain, and high speed networks, organizations can design business models that prioritize adaptability, co creation, and meaningful user engagement. Consumers participate directly in virtual testing, collaborative design sessions, and service interactions, creating continuous feedback loops that refine products and experiences. These immersive ecosystems strengthen operational reliability, reduce development risks, and open opportunities for sustainable value creation across industries. By offering transparent, secure, and accessible digital spaces, immersive technologies help companies develop human centered, resilient, and future ready business strategies aligned with the goals of Industry 5.0.

Analysis of actual outages is essential for efficient lightning‐protection design. In this study, we estimate strokes that cause surge arrester burnout faults by considering not only the distance from the fault position to the stroke position estimated by a lightning location system but also the estimated peak current. Different configurations of the distribution line experiencing surge arrester damage are observed: various types of surge arresters are installed at the lightning striking pole, and the low‐voltage power distribution line is installed below the medium‐voltage line in some cases. The effect of this variation on the possibility of surge arrester damage is examined via numerical calculation. Results show that the variation in the withstand capability of surge arresters and the presence of appendant wires should be considered to reproduce surge arrester burnout faults on actual distribution lines in the summer. © 2026 Institute of Electrical Engineers of Japan. Published by Wiley Periodicals LLC.

Chemotherapy-induced neutropenia is a serious adverse event. Combination chemotherapy with docetaxel, cisplatin, and 5-fluorouracil (DCF) is an effective neoadjuvant therapy for esophageal cancer, but it is associated with a high incidence of Grade 4 neutropenia. In previous study, we identified associations between genetic variants and severe neutropenia. The aim of this study was to explore genetic factors related to pharmacokinetics and endogenous antioxidant defense mechanisms that may be associated with the development of Grade 4 neutropenia in esophageal cancer patients treated with DCF chemotherapy using two independent cohorts. We conducted a retrospective pharmacogenetic analysis using DNA samples from the National Cancer Center Biobank in Japan. Two independent cohorts of esophageal cancer patients treated with the DCF chemotherapy were analyzed: an exploratory cohort (n = 157) and a validation cohort (n = 121). Single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) in genes related to docetaxel pharmacokinetics and the Keich-like ECH-associated protein 1-Nuclear factor erythroid2-related factor 2 (Keap1-Nrf2) antioxidant system were examined. A total 53 (33.8%) and 62 (51.2%) patients developed Grade 4 neutropenia in exploratory and validation cohort, respectively. Multivariate analysis revealed that age, Adenosine triphosphate-binding cassette (ABC) G2 rs2231137G > A and Nuclear factor, erythroid 2 like 2 (NFE2L2) rs35652124C > T were significant in exploratory cohort, while baseline absolute neutrophil count and NFE2L2 rs35652124C > T were significant in the validation cohort. NFE2L2 rs35652124C > T was identified as an independent predictive genetic factor for Grade 4 neutropenia in esophageal cancer patients treated with DCF chemotherapy.

Behçet's Disease is a systemic vasculitis affecting both venous and arterial vessels, characterized by painful oral and genital ulcers. Primary Sjögren's Syndrome is an autoimmune disorder mainly targeting exocrine glands, especially the salivary and lacrimal glands, with possible systemic involvement. Molecular hydrogen has emerged as a potential adjuvant therapy due to its antioxidant and immunomodulatory effects. This report evaluates the efficacy of molecular hydrogen as adjunctive therapy for refractory oral ulcers in a patient with Behçet's disease and primary Sjögren's syndrome. A 67-year-old Taiwanese woman with Behçet's disease and primary Sjögren's syndrome had recurrent painful oral ulcers and mucosal atrophy since 2018, meeting the International Study Group (ISG) criteria. In 2020, she fulfilled the 2016 European League Against Rheumatism (EULAR)/American College of Rheumatology (ACR) criteria for Sjögren's syndrome based on Schirmer's test (0/0 mm), positive anti-Ro antibody (29 U/ml), and labial salivary gland biopsy findings. Despite long-term, hydroxychloroquine, colchicine, and monthly high-dose intravenous vitamin C and glutathione, her oral ulcers recurred with petechiae and bleeding. In January 2024, oral molecular hydrogen capsules were added as adjunctive therapy. Over several months, she showed marked clinical improvement, with less mucosal bleeding and decreased anti-Ro antibody levels. Immunophenotyping revealed increased naïve T helper Fas cell surface death receptor-positive (Fas+) and cytotoxic T cell programmed death-1-positive (PD-1+) subsets, suggesting immunomodulatory effects. The therapy was well tolerated, with no major adverse events. By August 2025, oral ulcers had markedly improved, and systemic disease remained stable on maintenance with hydroxychloroquine, azathioprine, corticosteroid infusions, and hydrogen therapy. Molecular hydrogen may aid refractory oral ulcers in Behçet's and primary Sjögren's syndromes, with clinical and immunologic benefits.

Rocks are composed of multiple mineral phases organized as polyphase crystal aggregates. However, previous studies assumed that the viscosity of a rock is represented by the viscosity of the primary phase in the rock, which oversimplifies the systems. The rheological properties of two-phase crystal aggregates are reviewed, focusing on two minerals representative of the upper mantle (olivine and pyroxene). Our research group performed several deformation and grain growth experiments on olivine and pyroxene aggregates with different volume fractions of pyroxene. Based on the experimental results, a constitutive law is proposed that relates grain size, viscosity, and mineral fraction in two-phase systems when a sample deforms under grain size sensitive creep. High strain torsion experiments were performed on olivine and pyroxene aggregates to understand the weakening process due to phase mixing. The microstructures observed in deformed samples are consistent with those found in naturally deformed rocks. The microstructural evolution of well-mixed fine-grained olivine and pyroxene aggregates can be explained from differences in diffusivity among Me (Fe or Mg), O, and Si, with the transport of MeO being significantly faster than that of SiO2. It is proposed that pyroxene plays a key role in plastic deformation, leading to long-term weakening associated with phase mixing.

Engineering materials with tailored optical properties remain a key challenge in photonics. We report the design, fabrication, and experimental characterization of a three-dimensional chirped woodpile photonic crystal with nanometric features, produced via two-photon laser lithography. The structure exhibits wavelength-dependent light localization and intensity enhancement in the near-infrared regime, achieved through group velocity reduction. This effect arises from a gradual lattice-period chirp along the propagation direction, inducing a frequency-dependent bandgap shift and spatial separation of localized wavelengths. We propose an experimental technique capable of sensing the infrared light localization inside the crystal through the measurement of the transversely scattered light. We confirm, for the first time to our knowledge, strong localization in the 1400 to 1700 nm range, with longer wavelengths penetrating deeper into the crystal, consistent with numerical simulations. These findings open new opportunities for infrared photonic applications requiring enhanced light–matter interactions, including optical sensing, photoluminescence, advanced light sources, and nonlinear optical processes.

Background: Plasmid-mediated horizontal transfer of antimicrobial resistance genes (ARGs) is a major driver of resistance dissemination across clinical and environmental settings. Urban rivers flowing through densely populated megacities represent critical interfaces where human-associated and environmental microbiomes intersect; however, the genetic structures and functional characteristics of resistance plasmids circulating in such environments remain insufficiently resolved. Methods: In this study, we conducted detailed genomic and phenotypic analyses of 11 ARG-bearing plasmids previously captured from the Tama River, an urban river flowing through the Tokyo megalopolis. These plasmids belonged to IncN, IncU, IncQ2γ, IncC, and IncPγ groups. Whole-plasmid sequencing, comparative genomic analyses, conjugation assays, and antimicrobial susceptibility testing were employed to characterize plasmid backbones, accessory resistance regions, mobile genetic elements, and conjugative transferability. Results: A total of 11 plasmids belonging to five major incompatibility groups (IncN, IncC, IncU+IncQ2γ, and IncP) were analyzed. These plasmids collectively encoded ARGs conferring resistance to five major antimicrobial classes, including aminoglycosides, β-lactams, tetracyclines, chloramphenicol, and mercury, and frequently harbored class 1 integrons, ISCR1 elements, and Tn3-derived inverted-repeat miniature elements (TIME). Notably, two plasmids (IncN and IncC) exhibited high structural similarity to clinically reported plasmids from geographically distant regions, whereas multiple IncP plasmids and one multi-replicon IncU+IncQ2γ plasmid displayed accessory-region architectures characteristic of environmental plasmids and broad host-range transferability. Antibiotic susceptibility testing demonstrated that these plasmids substantially increased resistance levels in hosts. Conclusions: This study reveals that urban river environments can harbor both clinically related and environmentally unique multidrug resistance plasmids, shaped by diverse mobile genetic elements. By providing nucleotide-level structural and functional evidence, this study highlights urban rivers as potential ecological hubs linking clinical and environmental resistance plasmid pools and supports the importance of continued monitoring of resistance plasmids in megacity-associated river systems.

Abstract We present results from coordinated multiwavelength observations of the microquasar SS 433, obtained with XRISM, optical telescopes (Seimei, LCO, Tomo-e Gozen, MITSuME), and the kSIRIUS near-infrared camera during 2024 April and 2025 March. The XRISM exposures amounted to ${\sim}200$ ks in 2024 and ~100 ks in 2025, corresponding to different combinations of orbital and precessional phases. With XRISM/Resolve’s high spectral resolution and large effective area, we clearly resolved numerous emission lines even in short time segments, achieving improved accuracy in Doppler-shift measurements relative to earlier observations. The simultaneously obtained X-ray and optical Doppler shifts suggest a possible tendency for the optical emission to lag slightly behind the X-rays. In the Resolve data, the Doppler shifts of the two jet components exhibited apparent asymmetries, with jet speeds fluctuating around ${\sim}0.26 \pm 0.01c$ in 2024 and ${\sim}0.30 \pm 0.01c$ in 2025. The velocity variations indicated modulations on a timescale of ~6.3 d, with a phase offset of about $-90^{\circ }$ relative to the nutation cycle. The observed line widths and flux of the approaching and receding jets appear consistent with the expected geometrical effects, indicating systematically larger line widths in the inner regions of the jets, as proposed by Shidatsu et al. (2025, PASJ, 77, 1313). Optical light curves show flares of ~400 s in 2024 and ~1600 s in 2025, with amplitudes up to ~15% during out-of-eclipse intervals, while the XRISM/Xtend light curves show no significant variability within the overlapping intervals and given the statistical uncertainties. Near-infrared photometry in 2024, obtained during an out-of-eclipse interval at a different epoch from the optical observations, showed no flare-like variability, and the X-ray band also remained constant within uncertainties. These coordinated observations provide a foundation for future XRISM studies aimed at probing the dynamical properties of the relativistic jets in SS 433.