In-situ permeability of the Median Tectonic Line (MTL) fault zone in Mie Prefecture, southwest Japan, was estimated using hydraulic tests and groundwater pressure observations in two boreholes. The screen depths in Holes 1 and 2 are located, respectively, in a major strand of the MTL fault zone within the Sambagawa metamorphic rocks and a branching fault developed in the hanging wall of the MTL...

This paper is a report from collective participation in NTCIR-5 Question Answering Challenge between researchers from Mie University, Hokkaido University and Otaru University of Commerce. Although our results were not impressive, we would like to share our experiences with everyone who think about participating in the challenge but is afraid of his or her lack of experience in the field. Unders...

Herbert Simon was the apostle of bounded rationality. He very often illustrated bounded rationality in the context of the theory of the firm, and was, of course, a major contributor to organizational theory. However, in spite of Simon’s efforts, I argue that bounded rationality has been only incompletely absorbed in the economics of organization, is little used for substantive purposes, and mos...

The characteristics of a small, lightweight portable lidar system for measuring aerosol (Mie) scatter at wavelengths of 1064 and 532 nm are described. It uses a 20-Hz Nd:YAG pulsed laser as a source and a 12.7-cmdiameter telescope as a receiver. By using a minimal number of commercially available components, the cost of construction has been reduced. The lidar has a useable range of 60–3000 m f...

Minimally invasive video-assisted thyroidectomy (MIVAT) and minimally invasive nonendoscopic thyroidectomy (MINET) represent well accepted and reproducible techniques developed with the main goal to improve cosmetic outcome, accelerate healing, and increase patient's comfort following thyroid surgery. Between 2007 and 2011, a prospective nonrandomized study of patients undergoing minimally inva...

Minimally invasive and robot-assisted procedures have potential advantages when used for total knee arthroplasty (TKA). The purpose of this cadaveric study was to examine whether robot-assisted minimally invasive procedures improve TKA alignment after modifying the robotic techniques and instruments. Total knee arthroplasties were performed on 10 pairs of fresh cadaveric femora. Ten knees were ...

BACKGROUND Minimally invasive cardiovascular procedures have been progressively used in heart surgery. OBJECTIVE To describe the techniques and immediate results of minimally invasive procedures in 5 years. METHODS Prospective and descriptive study in which 102 patients were submitted to minimally invasive procedures in direct and video-assisted forms. Clinical and surgical variables were e...

A small proportion of hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) patients are suitable for surgical resections and various minimally invasive procedures have been introduced as alternatives to surgical resections. However, the relative efficacy of minimally invasive procedures remains to be studied in the current literature. Several popular minimally invasive procedures (monotherapy or combined therapies) ...

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES After the widespread application of minimally invasive surgery for benign diseases and given its proven safety and efficacy, minimally invasive surgery for gastrointestinal cancer has gained substantial attention in the past several years. Despite the large number of publications on the topic and level I evidence to support its use in colon cancer, minimally invasive s...